Du30: Meet with Xi, Putin most meaningful

President Duterte on Sunday described his bilateral meetings with China and Russia as the “most meaningful” among his meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Vietnam.

In his arrival statement midnight of Sunday, Mr. Duterte said that at the Apec Summit, he “took the opportunity to meet my counterparts from many economies. I renewed my friend- ship with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and with President Xi Jinping of China.”

He later described these meetings as “the most meaningful.”

Mr. Duterte said that he “assured” Xi of “our friendship and that it will remain warm and robust.”

China support cited

He said that in response, Xi told him that China supported him in the Philippine government’s campaign against insur- gency and illegal drugs, “and the help that they can extend to us.”

Mr. Duterte also said that he had seen “a very bright future for our relationship” with China.

“Nothing to do with military. I have stated before and I was not lying, I would not entertain talks about military or anything except that I had to thank Mr. Xi Jinping for the timely and crucial help that he extended to our country when we were fighting the siege of Marawi,” he said, adding that China was the first country to send aid.

The President met with the Chinese leader at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Da Nang, Vietnam, and repeated his claim that it was a Chinese-made sniper rifle that killed the leaders of the Marawi siege.

‘Very fruitful’ meeting

Mr. Duterte said that his meeting with Putin “was a very fruitful one.”

“They have extended their open support for us in fighting terrorism and drugs. And al- most all of them also have the same problem. So, they are easy to talk to. They’re also suffering from the same scourge with drugs,” Mr. Duterte said.

Since becoming President last year, Mr. Duterte has openly expressed his admiration for Xi and Putin, even calling the Russian leader his “hero.”

At that time, the Philippines led the claimant countries in the Southeast Asian region in calling out China, which had built artificial islands in the disputed reefs and atolls in an effort to assert its sovereignty over the South China Sea.

Arms purchase

Mr. Duterte also derided the United States, the oldest security ally of the Philippines, after then US President Barack Obama criticized his war against illegal drugs.

Mr. Duterte actively sought to purchase military equipment from Russia, even if Philippine military training, protocols and material have always been aligned with the United States.