Posted on 09/08/2020 9:07:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
SINGAPORE — After more than four years in power, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is still struggling to show that his country has benefited from a closer alliance with China.
In a dramatic shift in the Philippines’ foreign policy, Duterte declared in 2016 the country’s “separation” from the U.S. — a military ally — and announced closer ties with China.
Among other things, the president also set aside his country’s territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, in exchange for billions of dollars that China pledged in infrastructure investments.
But much of that promised investment has not materialized, with projects delayed or shelved, while anti-Chinese rhetoric has grown louder within Duterte’s own government and among the Philippine public.
“China has launched just two of the pledged infrastructure projects — a bridge and an irrigation project — and both have hit major snags that could scuttle them altogether,” said Greg Poling, senior fellow for Southeast Asia and director of Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Beijing has also not backed off on harassing Filipino forces and civilians in the South China Sea. So on all counts, Duterte is increasingly accused of having abased himself before Beijing and gotten nothing for it,” Poling told CNBC in an email.
Rising domestic political pressure
Duterte’s conciliatory approach toward China is not shared by most of the Philippine public, who continue to view other global and regional powers more favorably.
In a July survey by pollster Social Weather Stations, Filipinos were found to trust the U.S. and Australia more than China. Notably, trust in China was worse than the same survey conducted in December last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
The Philippines and China have for years clashed over competing claims in the resource-rich waterway where trillions of dollars of global trade pass through annually.
He may be trying China and the U.S. off each other.
See, even the Philippines have DEMOCRATS....
He hasn’t much choice but to play with both sides, really.
This is pretty amusing, because the Chinese have a low opinion of “island people”. China likes the Philipines only because it would be a nice place for China to have.
For Philippine President Duterte maybe keeping his life...?
I was stationed in Korea when the Philippines kicked us out of Subic and Clark. Even way back then I could see China rising. The Philippines was not thinking ahead. Now China will debt trap them. They will have to tow the China line. Chinese nationals will pour into the Philippines and stake sectors over, starting with gambling. If the Philippines objects they will find out how debt trapping works.
China is our enemy and the enemy of the world along with the DNC and the Left.
God bless.
China is our enemy and the enemy of the world along with the DNC and the Left.
God bless.
No. It’s a small country and though it has a decent size population it can’t really defend itself against a superpower. They do have a long-standing relationship with the United States but they have to be wondering if the United States will go to war with China to defend a small country in China’s backyard.
You would think that any one over the age of five would be able to figure that out.
I don't think President Trump has a vindictive bone in his body and would welcome Duterte's APPROACH to friendship.
Duterte probably has too much pride to re-consider ... to the good people of the Philippines' loss.
They have also provided a lot of work for young Filipinos, albeit somewhat slave labor.
When an older teenager, my wife worked for a Chinese drug store owner and she and the other girls were for all practical purposes in a reform type school ... no contact with any boys that would come in the shop, daily lessons about the drugs and the PDR, locked in upstairs at night, said prayers, and had a day off until 5PM every other Sunday
And every Chinese when dead or dying went back to China... with their money
Duterte found out what the Chinese were really like after he went public with his bargaining position. Being an unsubtle thinker, he didn't know what to do
This goes back a very long way. Chinese have been marrying into Filipino society for centuries. I recall a study from a couple of decades ago that traced the genealogy of large landowning clans in Pampanga (the study just restricted itself to one province to keep it manageable). Every one of them has substantial Chinese ancestry dating back to the 18th century, even if their names don’t show it. And this does not cover Johnny-come-latelies like the Cojuangcos.
Some of the pushback against Duterte is from the military. The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) are not under Dutertes thumb, unlike the police. And the AFP is popular.
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