Duterte calls for immediate solutions to world issues

TOKYO – President Duterte is calling for immediate solutions to issues that he said are painting a “chaotic” image of the world, including the USChina trade war and the South China Sea row.

Duterte said Asia is on the cusp of a “historic transformation” as it finds its rightful place at the center of an evolving global order with its growing wealth and influence.

Recent developments, however, “appear to paint a chaotic global environment,” he pointed out.

“But I submit to you that chaos is only part of a large picture,” Duterte said on Friday at the 25th Nikkei Future of Asia Conference here.

“There are strong examples of partnerships and meaningful cooperation in the international community. Chaos may in fact be an inevitable stage in the emergence of a new order responsive to our realities of the 21st century,” he added.

Duterte cited technological breakthroughs, which he said are “disrupting” established lives. New technologies empower but can also fragment societies, he added.

He also maintained that global balance of power is shifting from west to east, making Asia “an arena for big power competition with all its attendant risks and opportunities.”

He cited the trade war between the US and China that he said is “becoming a protracted war on the global and trade investments everywhere.”

“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing trade war between the US and China. It is creating uncertainty and tension. It is causing downward stressors on the global economy,” the Chief Executive said.

“The world is watching in earnest. There must be a resolution soon,” he added.

The US and China have been imposing higher tariffs on each other’s goods, worrying investors who fear that it would drag down the global economy.

Duterte also expressed concerns over what he described as “unilateralist, protectionist, and nativist tendencies.”

“Our institutions for global governance are currently under siege,” the Philippine leader said.

“Unilateralist, protectionist and nativist tendencies are rearing its ugly head again in some parts of the globe. This, at a time when the need to join hands has never been greater,” he added.

The President also mentioned the longstanding dispute in the South China Sea, an area that he said is “at stress.” He cited the need for a binding code of conduct on South China Sea among claimants as well as greater dialogue on the issue.

“I just hope that China would come up with conduct of the sea soon and somebody should reach out to the United States. Because if you leave it to them to talk, nothing will happen,” Duterte said.

“There is so much animosity covered by sweet-talking about how they desire to have an agreement. But nobody is pushing and the intrusions, as far as China is concerned, it’s in their waters,” he added.

China’s expansive maritime claim covers about 90 percent of the resource-rich South China Sea. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the area, a busy sea lane where about $5 trillion worth of goods pass through.

In 2013, the previous Aquino administration questioned the legality of China’s massive maritime claim before a UNbacked international tribunal based in The Hague. Three years later, the tribunal issued a ruling invalidating Beijing’s claim and reaffirming Manila’s maritime entitlements. Beijing vowed not to comply with the ruling, which it described as a mere piece of paper.

Duterte, accused by his critics of not doing enough to assert the Philippines’ maritime entitlements, belatedly questioned China’s far reaching claim but insisted that he would not go to war over the dispute.

“I love China, it has helped us a bit. But it behooves upon us to ask: Is it right for a country to claim the whole ocean? Only just leave the high seas as it was during the old days of international law,” he said.

Duterte said the US, a traditional ally and treaty partner of the Philippines, should stay out of the South China Sea talks.

Duterte also highlighted the risks brought about by the changing nature of nontraditional security issues that add to global volatility like terrorism, climate change and transnational crimes.

“The supreme irony: As terrorists surreptitiously advance and move from one country to another, they are making the movement of people for legitimate reasons more difficult,” Duterte said.

“As terrorists and violent extremists proceed with their tasks of tearing up the international community, they are forcing us to rethink our ideas of borders and protection,” he added.