Duterte plans to visit Russia, China to open new alliances
manila — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would visit Russia and China this year to chart an independent foreign policy and “open alliances” with two powers with historic rivalries with the United States.
Duterte said the Philippines was at the “point of no return” in relations with former colonial ruler the United States, so he wanted to strengthen ties with others, and picked two global powers that have been sparring with Washington on the international political stage.
Last week, he last declared he would visit China, with which ties remain frosty over a South China Sea arbitration ruling won by the Philippines in July. He said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was expecting him in Moscow.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.
An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China’s claims to the waterway in a case brought by the Philippines, a ruling Beijing refuses to recognise. “I am ready to not really break (US) ties but we will open alliances with China and Medvedev,” Duterte told reporters, adding he would open up the “other side of the ideological barrier”.
He welcomed investment and shrugged off rating agency Standard and Poor’s concerns last week about the Philippine economy on his watch.
“Never mind about the ratings,” he said. “I will open up the Philippines for them to do business, alliances of trade and commerce.”
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Philippine government had not contacted the United States about the comments made by Duterte.
US cooperation with the Philippine government remains strong and the United States has not seen anything that would indicate a shift by Manila, Toner said at a daily news briefing. “They’re a sovereign nation and we’re certainly not going to hold them back from pursuing closer relations with either of those countries. It’s not a zero-sum game,” he said.
Duterte also said he would open up telecoms and airlines, two domestic sectors long controlled by local players and criticised for being uncompetitive. He did not elaborate.
His vitriol against the United States has become a near-daily occurrence, sparking both amusement and concern. — Reuters