Is it possible that we are not getting the whole story here. Is it possible that the See of China is riddled with pirates and drug smugglers. And that the governments fall into two categories, those who hate the open water criminals, and those who are on the side of at least one gang.
Its possible that China is trying to stop the criminals on the high sees. And the US is worried about China getting too much control. This is more than what it seems. There are issues here that are not showing up in the propaganda. And remember the Philippines claim much of this area.
RE: Is it possible that we are not getting the whole story here.
I have lots of friends in the Philippines and have lived and worked as an ex-pat for some years ( I can also speak their native language — Tagalog ).
Many people claim that these so-called extra-judicial killings are perpetrated by drug lords themselves as the Police ring closes in on them. They kill the lower level pushers in order to prevent them from squealing.
Many of these drug lords are actually corrupt officials who are the higher ups in law enforcement and the military.
Not many people believe this to be so simple, however and many believe that Duterte himself still has his own death squads. Duterte himself is not making things re-assuring by BOASTING openly that as Mayor of Davao ( the Philippine’s third largest city ), he himself has executed several drug lords. He even compared himself to Hitler executing the Jews.
Whether this is true or simply verbal bravura to strike fear in the hearts of drug lords, I do not know.
So, this is the kind of person Trump has to deal with.