Or are they being pragmatic? Does anyone truly believe the US has the political will to fulfill their defense commitments in the Pacific?
Thats the 64K question. If it comes to it will the USN come to the rescue. Duterte believed it wouldnt.
On the other hand the Chinese are petty and vicious masters. If some faction of them sees a benefit in squeezing the Philippines over something or other they will, no matter how small. Also they did not keep their promises to Duterte. They did not come through with infrastructure investments.
China - especially since the Afghanistan Debacle - has been going around saying the days of the US are in the past and they will abandon you - and that they, China, are the future so they better align with them. This is happening in many places around the globe.
*”Call him and Duarte for what they are scardey cats”
Or are they being pragmatic? Does anyone truly believe the US has the political will to fulfill their defense commitments in the Pacific? *
Pragmatic? Taiwan/Japan doesn’t have that luxury. Neither does S. Korea. Pragmatic just means they’ll fight to the last American.