Manila to maintain ties with Washington

‘TROUBLING’: Duterte’s comments creating unnecessary uncertainty, says US attache

THE Philippines will maintain its trade and economic ties with the United States, Trade Minister Ramon Lopez said yesterday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte announced his “separation” from Washington.

Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was paving the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with ally Washington deteriorate.

“With that, I announce my separation from the US,” Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people to applause at a forum.

Molly Koscina, the US Embassy press attache here said yesterday Duterte’s comments were creating “unnecessary uncertainty”.

“We’ve seen a lot of this sort of troubling rhetoric which is inexplicably at odds with the warm relationship that exists between the Filipino and American people and the record of cooperation between our governments,” she said.

“We have yet to hear from the Philippine government what Duterte’s remarks on ‘separation’ means, but it is creating unnecessary uncertainty.”

She also said the US would honour alliance commitments and treaty obligations with the Philippines.

Duterte’s efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in The Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration here, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old took office on June 30.

Lopez sought to explain Duterte’s comments.

“Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation,” Lopez said in Beijing.

“In terms of economic ties, we are not stopping trade, investment with America.

“The president mentioned his desire to strengthen ties with China and Asean, which we have been trading with for centuries.”

“But we definitely won’t stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the US.”

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning private personal meetings with Duterte here next week, three sources said, seeking to keep him onside with US-led efforts to contain Beijing’s South China Sea ambitions.

With Duterte winding up a trip to China where he announced his “separation” from the US, Abe faces a delicate task to promote the closely aligned security goals of Tokyo and Washington without pushing the Philippine leader deeper into Beijing’s embrace.

“Japan wants to explain its regional stance, including its thinking regarding the South China Sea,” said one of the sources.

“Abe wants to make a connection with Duterte,” he said, asking not to be identified because he is unauthorised to talk to the media. Reuters