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U.S. Has Few Good Options In Response To Philippine-Chinese Detente
Topic Started: Oct 21 2016, 12:47 AM (5 Views)
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Reuters: U.S. has few good options for response to Philippines' Duterte

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The Obama administration has few good options and limited leverage as it struggles to craft a response to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's increasingly hostile rhetoric towards the United States and his warm embrace of China.

For months, Washington has played down Duterte's anti-American insults and broadsides. But the flamboyant new leader raised the stakes to a new level on Thursday when he announced his "separation" from long-time ally the United States and realignment with Beijing and possibly even Moscow, America's two main strategic rivals.

Duterte's latest outburst, less than three weeks before the U.S. presidential election, casts further doubt on the seven-decade U.S.-Philippine alliance and threatens to further undermine President Barack Obama's faltering "pivot" to Asia as a counterbalance to China's growing assertiveness.

Potentially at stake is the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, reached under Duterte's predecessor, allowing the United States to rotate ships, aircraft, and personnel through five Philippines bases, an arrangement seen as crucial to projecting U.S. military power on China's doorstep.

Mindful of Duterte's volatile nature, the Obama administration has trod carefully so far, seeking to avoid provoking him even as it chides him over his deadly war on drugs, U.S. officials say.

One U.S. official, who did not want to be identified, said there had been an active internal debate in recent months on how far to go in criticizing Duterte's government on human rights and that the measured tone adopted was not as strong as some aides would have liked.

U.S. attempts to raise questions about Duterte's campaign against drugs, in which more than 3,000 people have been killed since he took office in June, have drawn angry denunciations by Duterte. He has derided Obama as a "a son of bitch" and said he should "go to hell."

"It doesn't seem to help to say anything because the minute you say something, he just lets loose his barrage of obscenities," said Murray Hiebert, deputy director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I think for the U.S. to just blast him constantly is probably not very effective."

There is a suspicion in Washington that Duterte could swing back to the United States - if he decides it suits his interests.

"There is no question that Duterte is...trying to play the well-worn game of playing us off against the Chinese," another U.S. official said, on condition of anonymity.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that the United States will seek an explanation from Duterte over his "separation" announcement, which he made during a visit to China. But he limited criticism to calling the remarks "baffling" and "inexplicably at odds" with close ties between Washington and Manila.
-Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-philippines-relations-idUSKCN12K2RS
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