Reconfiguring alliances – Alliance self-serving :: Duterte on China visit

China visit is a turning point

Consistency of approach has always been the hallmark of the dynamic personality of the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. With his coming to power there has been a notable shift in the relationship with all parties whether friends or foes.

His continued open hostility towards the United States and the European Union is a new beginning in the relations between the allies of yore. They still are allies in the strict sense of the word because that is the official status between the nations.

But, it would appear to the bystanders like us that the equations are fast changing and friends and foes are likely to change places in the foreseeable future.

This became abundantly clear quite a few days ago when the President of the started developing friendly relations with the Chinese who were his old enemies and responsible for more than half his problems.

The antagonism which he felt towards the US poured out in the form of verbal abuses not only to the whole US nation but also with personal insults to the US President who made his displeasure evident without resorting to matching responses.

Now, the formidable man has gone to the next step in heaping insults on the US by declaring on his current stste visit to China that, perhaps it is tome for the Filipinos to emerge from the shadow of the US and take their separate ways.

Saying it in China was consistent with his unique provocative style. With this, it has become evident that when he was attacking the US, the EU and the Un, it was not just the raving and ranting of an unbalanced man.

President Duterte knows his goals and has a clear-cut approach chalked out in achieving them; it is not always to keep pace with his thought processes and his strategies.

Thus, the region and the alliances are in for a lot of changes and there is no indication yet as to what the final lineups will be.

Thus, it would seem that the ranting and raving of the President of the Philippines against the US was not just expulsion of gas. The long-term alliance of the Filipinos with the US is on the verge of collapse.

The state visit

The recent tilt towards China that has been seen in the dealings of President Duterte and his utterances in their favor has culminated in the current visit of four days to the Chinese capital Beijing.

Time alone will tell whether the new friendship will prove to be a stable partnership or will the relationship sour after China has gained access to all those areas that it has its eye on.

During his four-day China visit, Duterte will meet the Premier Li Keqiang and some other leaders including President Xi Jinping.

The Chinese have welcomed the visit of the Filipino President with the remarks that it was a pleasing opportunity to move towards resolving the outstanding disputes between the two neighbors through the amicable route of dialogue and consultations.

Hua Chunying, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry asserted that this was a move in the right direction si
nce it will usher in stability and peace in the region. This will lead to an era of development and prosperity for all in the Asia pacific region, he stated.

The editorial piece in Global Times, China’s nationalist newspaper asserted that the United States had always treated the Philippines as its stooge and they were pleased that Rodrigo Duterte was taking his country on a path of respectability and pursuance of Filipino interests.

Forging economic ties was at the forefront of Duterte’s agenda as declared by him. China had cut off its import of bananas from Philippines as a penalty for escalating the territorial dispute; Duterte would be hoping to get the ban reversed.

The vulnerability

China has nothing to lose by luring the Philippines into its sphere of influence but, were the US withdraw from the current alliance and then China turns upon Manila, the position will be really sticky for Duterte and his men.

It is a really testing time for the diplomatic alliances involving and the visiting President asserted this while addressing his countrymen on his China visit in Beijing. He pointed out that his country did not gain anything substantial from its long associating with the United States.

On the other hand, the United States was the only party that had gained from the strategic alliance; that is why he had decided that it was time to part ways. He repeated the same abusive words for Barrack Obama as he did last month and reiterated his declared opinion that he wanted to move to a more independent foreign policy agenda.

The nation had followed the western agenda for too long and he was now looking forward to develop some fruitful partnerships that would have something for his country.

He also mentioned that he will not be going to the USA since he expected them to insult him in return for his declaration of snapping ties with the US which was on the cards.

He accused the United States of staying in his country for so long without really providing anything in return. He was fed up with this one-sided alliance and would now chart a different course for his nation, he said.

Thus, after his China visit, it looks like a total about turn in the foreign policy is on the cards in the near future.
The President had promised that he would not be flaunting his victory that was gained through ITLOS.

He also did not allow the joint US – Philippines patrols in the South China Seas and wanted to end the joint military exercises too.

Shifting sands

The sea lanes of The South China Sea are part of the international maritime highway with a very high volume of trade and commerce across them. That is why the US has a keen interest in these mineral-rich areas.

The United States keeps forming strategic alliances with the regional entities with whom the Chinese has running disputes; thus, it is able to maintain its presence in the Asia-pacific.

This has heated up the atmosphere in the region.

China is aware of the designs of Washington on the region.

War on drugs

The equations with the US are undergoing a rapid metamorphosis after Duterte took over as President in June; China moved in into the sphere of friendship.

Even the warning from the International court has soured up the mood in claiming that whoever was responsible for the 3700 dead in the war on drugs would face prosecution for war crimes.

Even before the China visit was planned China had already started cooperating actively in the war on drugs by:
1. Assuring the Philippines that the Chinese gangs of drug peddlers will be checked,
2. Building a massive hospital in the Philippines to look after drug addicts,
3. Offering to train cadets from the Philippines to fight illegal drugs and provide protection to VIPs.

Umrao singh
umraoz.wordpress.com

Saturday, 22 October 2016
Written for: Lars-Magnus Carlsson www.thephilippinepride.com

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