If you’re a historic U.S. ally under mounting pressure from an emerging superpower like China, it’s probably not a good idea to use a crude sexual epithet to describe the American president. Filipino leader Rodrigo Duterte, though, is far from a normal president. And his behavior – and that of his government – is increasingly posing a serious challenge to Washington on an ever-growing variety of levels.

Washington’s relations with the Philippines have always been complex. The Philippines were one of the very few U.S. colonies overseas before they were granted independence in 1946, although the United States retained several sovereign bases. With the rise of China and growing confrontation in the South China Sea, most experts believed links would become notably stronger – indeed, that assumption was one of the linchpins of U.S. thinking, particularly after the Obama administration announced its “Asia pivot” in 2012.

The election of President Duterte in May this year, however, has made that relationship increasingly difficult, if not outright impossible. So far, the geostrategic implications of that move have been limited. But the longer he stays in office – and the worse his relations become with the United States in particular and the broader international community in general – the starker they will become.

In some ways, the White House may have been relieved that in calling Obama a “son of a bitch” – or in some translations, “whore” – Duterte finally pushed things too far. The comments, recorded in a conversation with mostly Filipino journalists, prompted the White House to cancel a planned bilateral meeting due to take place in an Asian security conference in Laos. Prior to the announcement, it was already shaping up to be a diplomatic disaster.

At the heart of the problem is Duterte’s “war on drugs”. In his election campaign, the Filipino president bluntly pledged to reduce crime by killing drug dealers, making it clear that during his tenure law enforcement agencies would be unencumbered by anything approaching legal process.

It was, essentially, an unapologetic pledge to enforce resource a campaign of extrajudicial murder. His government has been as good as its word. Around 900 people have been killed in police operations since July 1, with a further 1500 unsolved murders described officially as “under investigation” but which rights groups say in many cases appear to be government-sanctioned extrajudicial contract killings.

The human consequences have been deeply unpleasant. In August, the BBC profiled one of a growing number of female contract killers who said she had been paid by the government to kill several drug dealers, usually in cold blood. Unsurprisingly, public criticism of the campaign is relatively rare – not least because of rumors that political and personal scores may be being settled amid the crackdown.

Unsavory activities by America’s allies are hardly new. U.S.-backed Latin American governments often ran a variety of death squads, particularly during the 1980s. Duterte, however, has made a point of boasting of the killings while demonstrating ever less tolerance for criticism. That has included threatening to leave the United Nations after condemnation from UN agencies and officials.

The outburst against Obama followed news reports that the U.S. president was aiming to be similarly critical.

The geopolitical implications make this remarkably messy. The United States cannot endorse – or even deal closely with – a leader who revels quite so clearly in tearing up the internationally accepted norms of law and order. America’s entire Asian strategy, meanwhile, is dependent on building closer ties to countries like the Philippines and, ironically, stressing the importance of following internationally accepted rules on a wide range of other issues.

That’s particularly true when it comes to Beijing’s increasingly assertive posture in the South China Sea. Earlier this year, the Filipino government won a landmark ruling at the international UN maritime court in The Hague, declaring Beijing’s grandiose claims of offshore territory unlawful.

Washington has been particularly critical of China’s program of building military outposts on often disputed reefs, including those also claimed by the Philippines. Military collaboration with the United States has been increasing. In 2014, the two countries signed what they described as a landmark security accord giving the United States renewed access to bases. That deal had only just cleared its last legal hurdles, being declared constitutional by the highest Filipino court in July.

The Filipino government and China have some of the tensest territorial disputes in Asia, particularly over a chain of rocky outcrops known as Scarborough Shoal. What happens over them will help set the tone for the rest of the region, including other potential flashpoints with Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and elsewhere. Officials in Beijing, one suspects, must barely be able to believe their luck.

The views expressed in this article are not those of Reuters News. This article is website-exclusive and cannot be reproduced without permission.</s>Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte before their bilateral meeting during the Belt and Road Forum, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on May 15. REUTERS/Etienne Oliveau/Pool MANILA — The Philippines and China played down on Monday a warning by President Rodrigo Duterte that China would go to war if the Philippines drilled for oil in the disputed South China Sea.

The outspoken Philippine president has been facing criticism at home for being what some people see as too soft on China over a long-running territorial dispute.

Duterte met Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks in Beijing last week and later said Xi had warned him there would be war if the Philippines tried to search for oil in a disputed stretch of sea.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said that their meeting was frank and friendly and that the discussion was largely about preventing conflict, not threatening it.

"The conversation was very frank. There was mutual respect, there was mutual trust," Cayetano told reporters.

"The context was not threatening each other, that we will go to war. The context is how do we stabilize the region and how do we prevent conflict."

He added: "I will not contradict the president's words. I am just telling you ... my interpretation: There was no bullying or pushing around — it was not a threat."

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also sought to make light of Duterte's comments, noting he and Xi had agreed to "strengthen communication" on important bilateral issues.

China was willing to work with the Philippines to handle disputes peacefully, she told reporters.

Duterte made no mention of the issue during an unusually news briefing on Monday before he left for Russia.

Duterte's critics have made much of his refusal to push China to comply with a ruling last year by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, at the end of a case brought by the Philippines against China, which was largely in favor of the Philippines. China has never recognized the case.

The court said the Philippines had a sovereign right to access offshore oil and gas fields in its Exclusive Economic Zone.

Duterte's rivals have likened his refusal to insist that China abide by the ruling as akin to surrendering sovereignty.

Senate minority leader, Frank Drilon, said the government "should not allow our country to be bullied and threatened," while former foreign minister Albert del Rosario said Manila should do joint maritime patrols with traditional ally the United States, an idea he said Duterte had jettisoned as part of his "full embrace of China."

Duterte chafes at what he considers Philippine subservience to the US and has sought to engage more with China, which has promised loans and investment that will be vital to his ambitious $180 billion infrastructure overhaul.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Saturday urged the government to file another international arbitration case over the reported Chinese threat, and also lodge a complaint with the United Nations.

Failure to do that would mean Duterte would be "selling us out," he said.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the Philippines was "very clear that we are not giving up our claim of sovereignty and sovereign rights."

(Reporting by Karen Lema and Martin Petty in Manila and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel)</s>Duterte said the Philippines was at the "point of no return" in relations with former colonial ruler the United States, so he wanted to strengthen ties with others, and picked two global powers that have been sparring with Washington on the international political stage.

Last week, he last declared he would visit China, with which ties remain frosty over a South China Sea arbitration ruling won by the Philippines in July. He said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was expecting him in Moscow.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China's claims to the waterway in a case brought by the Philippines, a ruling Beijing refuses to recognise.

"I am ready to not really break (U.S.) ties but we will open alliances with China and... Medvedev," Duterte told reporters, adding he would open up the "other side of the ideological barrier".

He welcomed investment and shrugged off rating agency Standard and Poor's concerns last week about the Philippine economy on his watch.

"Never mind about the ratings," he said. "I will open up the Philippines for them to do business, alliances of trade and commerce."

The peso fell on Monday to its lowest since 2009, and foreign investors have dumped local shares for six straight weeks, worried about Duterte's anti-U.S. rhetoric and brutal war on drugs, which has alarmed rights groups at home and abroad.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Philippine government had not contacted the United States about the comments made by Duterte.

U.S. cooperation with the Philippine government remains strong and the United States has not seen anything that would indicate a shift by Manila, Toner said at a daily news briefing.

"They're a sovereign nation and we're certainly not going to hold them back from pursuing closer relations with either of those countries. ... It's not a zero-sum game," he said.

Duterte also said he would open up telecoms and airlines, two domestic sectors long controlled by local players and criticized for being uncompetitive. He did not elaborate.

His vitriol against the United States has become a near-daily occurrence, sparking both amusement and concern. On Monday he accused Washington of "hypocrisy" and "lording it over us".

His latest swipe included ruling out participation in any maritime conflict initiated by the United States, despite a 1951 treaty which Duterte said required Manila to back Washington.

"I am about to cross the Rubicon between me and the U.S.," he said," without elaborating. "It's the point of no return."

Toner said he would dispute Duterte's premise that the United States might start a maritime conflict. "The United states has a strong security presence in the Asia-Pacific region, but we're certainly not looking to start a military action against anyone," he said.

It was unclear whether Duterte's outbursts will affect relations between the two countries, whose militaries have scheduled joint exercises in October.

On Monday, the U.S. embassy in Manila announced two-week deployment of a pair of C130 planes and 100 troops at an air base in the central Philippines, the third of its kind this year, as part of a rotational troops agreement.

Separately, Duterte said the United Nations, European Union and United States would get a free hand to investigate killings in his anti-narcotics campaign, but only under Philippine laws.

Deaths in the campaign have averaged more than 40 a day since Duterte took office on June 30.</s>Though trust in both countries had declined slightly since the last survey in June, a Social Weather Stations poll from Sept. 24 to 27 showed 55 percent of Filipinos had "little trust" in China, versus 11 percent who had doubts about the U.S.

Just over three-quarters, or 76 percent, of the 1,200 respondents had "much trust" in the United States, compared to 22 percent who felt the same about China. The poll did not ask respondents to explain their views.

Duterte visits China on Tuesday, accompanied by a business delegation of at least 200, as he looks to open a new commercial alliance with Beijing that he says aims to boost the Philippine economy and diversify a foreign policy too dependent on Washington.

He has railed ferociously about the longtime ally and former colonial power and questioned its loyalty. He has complained of being dictated to about his deadly war on drugs by President Barack Obama, whom he told to "go to hell".

Last week Duterte called Obama, the European Union and United Nations "fools" for criticising his narcotics crackdown, and said he would "humiliate" them if they accepted his invitation to probe alleged summary executions.

Some Americans in the Philippines say his outbursts have left many of their countrymen, and U.S. businesses, jittery.

The last SWS poll showed an 81 percent rating of "much trust" for the United States with just nine percent having "little trust". Feelings about China were better at that time, with 27 percent having high trust and 51 percent little trust.

That poll, conducted after Duterte's election but prior to his taking office, preceded a July ruling by an arbitration court in the Hague that dealt a blow to China's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, in a case brought by Manila.

In comments likely to have irked the Chinese leadership, Duterte has said his new foreign policy shift showed a change in Philippines-China ties but he would not bargain with it over maritime sovereignty and would raise the issue of the ruling.

Duterte's hostility towards the United States and aggressive courting of China, so soon after it lost a landmark court decision, has perplexed much of the international community.

Some experts say his apparent unilateral decision to consider dismantling a decades-old U.S. defence alliance risks jolting a region concerned about Beijing's rise and the chance of waning U.S. influence under a new White House leadership.</s>President Xi threatened President Duterte with war if the Philippines develops its oil and gas resources in the South China Sea. This threat is baseless, given the Philippines' alliance with the U.S.</s>DAVAO (Sputnik) — If the Philippines engaged in a military conflict with China over the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, it would be a massacre, the Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte said in his interview with Russian media.

"Do you expect me to fight China in a war? Do I have the cruise missiles for hitting them?" he said, adding that if the conflict happens, "it’s going to be a massacre."

In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled upon the claim of the Philippines that China has no legal grounds for territorial claims in the South China Sea. China refused to recognize the court’s decision.</s>Former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario also says China 'has strongly declared that it is might that will trump what is right'

MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio urged the Philippine government on Saturday, May 20, to sue China for threatening war against the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) dispute.

In a statement, Carpio said the Philippines should run to another arbitral tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to protect the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

UNCLOS is the so-called Constitution for the Oceans while the EEZ is the 200-nautical mile area from a coastal state's baselines, within which the coastal state has the exclusive rights to explore and exploit resources.

Carpio wrote, "As a nation that under its Constitution has renounced war as an instrument of national policy, the Philippines' recourse is to bring China's threat of war to another UNCLOS arbitral tribunal, to secure an order directing China to comply with the ruling of the UNCLOS arbitral tribunal that declared the Reed Bank part of Philippine EEZ."

"The Philippines can also ask for damages for every day of delay that the Philippines is prevented by China from exploiting Philippine EEZ," he added.

Carpio is one of the staunchest advocates of the Philippines' claim over the West Philippine Sea. (READ: Why Carpio wants China to read his e-book)

Sought for clarification, Carpio explained that the Philippines "can sue" China because the Asian giant "is not complying with the previous ruling" issued by another arbitral tribunal.

This tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled in July 2016 to invalidate China's expansive claim over the South China Sea, but China has refused to comply with this ruling.

Carpio made his remarks after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, May 19, said Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that China will go to war if the Philippines "forces the issue" of the arbitral ruling on the South China Sea.

Duterte quoted Xi as saying: "Well, we are friends. We do not want to quarrel with you. We would want to maintain the present warm relationship. But if you force the issue, we will go to war."

Reacting to China's threat, Carpio also said on Saturday that the Philippines can also run to the United Nations (UN) as another option.

Carpio said, "The Philippines can also bring China's threat to go to war against the Philippines before the United Nations General Assembly by sponsoring a resolution condemning China's threat of war against the Philippines and demanding that China comply with the ruling of the UNCLOS arbitral tribunal."

He pointed out that China has no veto power in the UN General Assembly.

He added that Duterte "cannot simply do nothing, or worse acquiesce to China's action, for inaction is the opposite of protecting Philippine EEZ."

"Acquiescence means the Philippines will lose forever its EEZ in the West Philippine Sea to China," Carpio said.

He added that China is the only country that "has threatened the Philippines with war over Philippine EEZ in the West Philippine Sea."

"China's threat of war against the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea reveals the aggressive design of China against the Philippines," the justice said.

"This extremely troubling development calls for all Filipinos to unite to defend the West Philippine Sea in accordance with the Constitution, international law, and UNCLOS," he added.

Former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario also weighed in on the issue, saying on Saturday: "Contrary to our position that right is might, China has strongly declared that it is might that will trump what is right."

Del Rosario said that "China – unless it stands to benefit – does not intend to respect the rule of law."

Malacañang, on the other hand, reacted to a reported statement by Carpio that Duterte effectively gave the "green light" to China's island building activities in the West Philippine Sea by not mentioning it in the Chairman's Statement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila.

"With all due respect to the Senior Associate Justice, Chinese island building and military deployment activities on certain features in the West Philippine Sea have been ongoing for some years now," Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

"The disputes in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea are not the sum total of our relations with China, but we are cognizant of the warmer relationships we have in the region," Abella added. – Rappler.com</s>Beijing: China today sidestepped claims by Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte that it had threatened to go to war over the disputed South China Sea.

Duterte, who met with Chinese president Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing last week, said on Friday the leaders had raised conflict as an option to resolving their competing claims to the waters.

"I really said it to their face. That is ours and we intend to drill oil there," said Duterte, who claimed he made the comments public in response to domestic criticism he was being too weak with China over the row.

"And they told me: 'Well, we're friends. We do not want to quarrel with you. We want to maintain the present warm relationship. But if you force the issue we'll go to war.'"

China's government today did not directly comment on Duterte's version of the leaders' conversation, but said it would "work with the Philippines to peacefully resolve disputes through friendly consultation".

China sought to "deepen cooperation in other fields so bilateral relations can move forward in a sound steady way and also contribute to regional peace stability," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.

The rival claims to the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, have for decades made it one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

China claims most of the sea, a key waterway for global shipping, and has reclaimed disputed reefs and installed military facilities on them.

Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.

An international tribunal ruled in July last year that China's claims to most of the sea were without legal basis, in a case filed by the Philippines under Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino.

But China vowed to ignore the ruling and warned the Philippines against trying to use the verdict as leverage.

Duterte, who began his six-year term in June last year, agreed to take a soft stance with China, claiming that if he did it might lead to war.

Duterte has also sought closer ties with China to win billions of dollars of Chinese investments and loans, while loosening the Philippines' long-standing alliance with the US.</s>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday agreed to provide two large-sized patrol ships and lend up to five used surveillance aircraft to the Philippines, a Japanese government spokesman said, with both countries locked in territorial disputes with China.

Abe and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte agreed in Vientiane to strengthen cooperation to ensure a peaceful resolution of the South China Sea dispute, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China's claims to the waterway after a case was brought by the Philippines, a ruling that Beijing refuses to recognise.

Japan's ties with China has been marred by a long-running territorial spat over a group of small islets in the East China Sea.

Japan has already agreed to provide 10 smaller-sized patrol ships to the Philippines.</s>Foreign and defence ministers from the United States and the Philippines met in Washington this week for the second time in more than three years to discuss trade and security, focusing on the South China Sea.

"We are suggesting that we also patrol the area together," Peter Paul Galvez told reporters in Manila. "There is a need for a more collaborative presence in the South China Sea."

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus underscored the importance of the U.S.-Philippine relationship, but declined to comment on the Philippine request for joint patrols.

A Pentagon spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said the United States engaged "in numerous joint defence activities" year round with its ally, including exercises, capacity building, training, and intelligence sharing.

"While we do not comment on our joint planning discussions, we routinely evaluate ways to strengthen and enhance our military cooperation to better meet regional security challenges," he said.

China claims almost all the disputed South China Sea, where it has built artificial islands that extend its reach. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines have competing claims in the sea, through which $5 trillion of trade passes annually.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Surface Navy Association near Washington, Mabus said the U.S. Navy was working closely with the Philippines through joint exercises, prepositioning of supplies and other steps.

A Philippines military spokesman said on Wednesday Manila had offered the United States eight bases where it can build facilities to store equipment and supplies under a new security deal.

Mabus said the accord paves the way for even closer ties, although the next steps were still being discussed.

"They're a very, very important international partner, and they're in a very important part of the world," Mabus said.

Tensions were heightened earlier this month when China began test flights from Fiery Cross Reef, one of three artificial islands where Beijing has built airfields.

The Philippines has challenged Beijing at the arbitration court in The Hague, a case Beijing has not recognised.

The United States has no South China Sea claim and says it takes no sides, though it has been highly critical of China's assertiveness and says it will protect freedom of navigation.

It carried out a navy patrol near areas claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines in October. A U.S. defence official said this month it remained committed to carrying out more but was still debating the timing.
The Philippines clarifies a controversial remark about a potential "war" with China amid criticism from Filipinos.