Posted on 10/20/2016 5:06:06 AM PDT by kimtom
BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from the United States on Thursday, declaring that it had "lost" and he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks.
Duterte made his comments in China, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally the United States deteriorate.
His trade secretary, Ramon Lopez, said $13.5 billion in deals would be signed
Duterte's efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal ruling in the Hague over South China Sea disputes in favor of the Philippines, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30.
"America has lost now," Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people at a forum in the Great Hall of the People, attended.........
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Here's the problem: Obama has made the US so unreliable and unpredictable that the Phillipine government has no idea (or faith) that he will support them in anything. And there they sit with "disputes" with giant China. China will gobble them up if they want to and the USA will probably (under Obama) do nothing but give some speech about how mean they are and how a sternly written letter is on the way to the UN right now.
They decided to align with China now when they had some ability to negotiate the terms rather than wait for the inevitable.
Bottom line: Trump is right when he says nobody respects (or trusts) Obama / Clinton.
Looks like Obama’s pivot to Asia-Pacific has great rewards...
All of east Asia will probably align themselves with China sooner or later.
Isn’t Hillary caught in wikileaks calling for missile defense in Asia? I’m sure the chicoms will love that one.
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert Zimmerman.
If the Philippines allows China to build military bases there, then you can almost write it all off.
After what Obama did to the one in Europe, no one there will believe her if she ever really meant it.
and an electorate that voted him in TWICE
and a Congress of the supposed opposition that bow and scrape to his every whim
This is regrettable
Obama believes US influence is malignant and all his policies flow from that point.
The Philippines is a rather strange case. The country has sent out professionals all over because there are no jobs at home. There is great education but it is wasted in country.
The other nations have emerged and gone forward while stagnation reigns in the Philippines. There is class separation of rigid proportions. That results in political corruption of the highest order.
There is also a large Chinese population. I would suspect that this population having strong commercial connections has decided to throw off the traditional rigid classification and firm up relations with the mainland.
None of that means the PhilChi’s are communist. Just the reverse. They are working with the Chicaps that are emerging as the real power.
The PI POTUS probably decided to get what he could, not a bad call.
The US is down to 297 ships, only about 200 of which have any offensive capability. And only about 105 of those are in the Pacific fleet.
They are extraordinarily capable platforms...but they can't be everywhere.
This move is likely in the best interests of the PI, but the people there love America, with a few million relatives here now.
And that a political problem for Duterte.
Trump's position is that we'll protect countries if they pay us, so the Philippines are kind of hosed no mater who wins. But if he really think he's going to get any kind of accommodation from the Chinese then Duterte is nuts.
The disastrous foreign policy of the Obama Administration claims another loss.
Countries that have tanked or turned away from the US during this imbecile’s occupation:
Egypt
Libya
Syria
Iraq
Ukraine
Venezuela
Philippines
What others am I missing?
He sounds like an odd sort of character.
I haven’t been keeping up on the Philippines; why did they vote for him?
Politics, like Nature, abhors a vacuum.
But Duarte, it’s a bit premature don’tcha think? Or have you determined that sHrillary is going to win and her price for protection is just too darned high?
I agree. Obama is not incompetent. He is accomplishing exactly what he set out to do.
China (Russia) does not take well to “backstabbing”..
or verbal abuse...
:)
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