Philippines declares 'separation' from US
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Barack Obama, Rodrigo Duterte / Courtesy of Twitter
By Park Si-soo
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said his country is “separating from the United States,” in a surprising declaration he made before attending a Beijing economic forum on Thursday.
The remark came after Duterte and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to resume talks on their South China Sea territorial dispute following months of acrimony.
“Your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States ... both in military and economics also,” Duterte said. His remarks were met with applause, but Duterte was not more specific, according to reports.
The rapprochement between the two Asian nations could widen a political rift between the United States and the Philippines, whose recently elected leader has made no secret of its antipathy for America and who ordered an end to joint maneuvers between their militaries, according to experts.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Duterte's remarks were “inexplicably at odds with the very close relationship we have with the Filipino people, as well as the government there on many different levels, not just from a security perspective.”
Following talks in Beijing between Duterte and Xi, a senior Chinese diplomat said the two leaders had agreed to restore the full range of contacts.
“Both sides agreed that the South China Sea issue is not the sum total of the bilateral relationship,” Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters.
This was followed by Philippines Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez’s announcement at a bilateral economic forum that his country and China will sign $13.5 billion of deals this week.
Separately, the Philippines Presidential Communications Office said Xi committed more than $9 billion in low-interest loans to the country, with about a third coming from private banks. About $15 million in loans will go to drug rehabilitation programs.