Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he wanted U.S. troops out of his country, perhaps in the next two years, underlining his intention to press ahead with a major realignment of his country’s foreign and security policies.
He said this while in Beijing.
It is not the first time Duterte has made this kind of threat, but his two-year timetable for a U.S. military exit appeared designed to reinforce his break-the-mold message to Washington and neighbors in Asia, particularly powerhouse China.
So far, however, his administration has failed to follow through on previous pledges to remove a small contingent of U.S. counterterrorism troops from the southern island of Mindanao or to notify Washington of an end to military exercises.
The United States “has received no formal communication from the government of the Philippines expressing a desire to make specific changes to our relationship or alliance,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday at a news briefing in Washington. “The United States remains committed to our pursuit of shared objectives” in keeping with the “seven-decade alliance between our two countries,” he said.
Earnest said Duterte’s comments appear to be “rhetoric at this point,” although they do “contribute to some uncertainty.” He said there were no plans yet for President Obama to meet with Duterte at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru next month, but he did not rule it out.
Rhetoric or not, we need to wait the guy out. We wouldn't want the Chinese to have basing rights in the Philippines.
The Philippines is one of the oldest U.S. allies in Asia and hosted permanent U.S. military bases until they were evicted in 1992. It is also an important Pentagon counterweight to China, whose expansion plans into the South China Sea have dismayed the Philippines and other nations.
“I want to be friends to China,” Duterte told an audience of business representatives in Tokyo, the Associated Press reported. “I do not need the arms. I do not want missiles established in my country. I do not need to have the airports to host the bombers.”
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10/27/2016 00:00 ||
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We wouldn't want the Chinese to have basing rights in the Philippines.
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