With His “Milestone” Visit, Duterte Moves Positively Towards China, And Away From The US

On Thursday (20 October), Chinese President Xi Jinping said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's “milestone” visit to his country could facilitate ties between the two countries, which have suffered due to a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Duterte came to Beijing on Tuesday (18 October) along with at least 200 top businesspersons to make way for what he calls a new commercial alliance, since relations with its long-time ally, the United States, has hit a low point.

To the members of the Filipino expat community in Beijing, Duterte said:

He then went on to call the US President Barack Obama a“son of a whore” yet again.

The US-Philippines spat began since the Obama administration started questioning Duterte’s policies in dealing with drug crime. In response, Duterte issued a series of blistering remarks asking Obama to stop dictating policy to the Philippines.

This shift in the Philippines’ foreign policy comes after 65 years of close partnership with the US.

Duterte has now engaged China months after a ruling in The Hague over South China Sea dispute went in favour of the Philippines.

Chinese President Jinping told Duterte at Beijing that China and the Philippines were brothers and could “appropriately handle disputes”, thereby sidestepping the South China Sea row before the reporters.