From Tokyo, Duterte reminds Washington that the country is not their dog.
Manila insists that there is no rift, but there's still uneasiness with expats and businesses.
edited 25th Oct '16 5:07:37 AM by Ominae
In love with an Uptown Girl
By Duarte's logic of justice, he should have been killed first.
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.
Shameful Display
Ramos calls Duerte a huge disappointment
Duerte wants all foreign troops out in two years He is realigning himself in Beijing's ideological flow. If the Church commission hand't gutted the US's human intel capability that fucker would be dead by now.
edited 26th Oct '16 11:46:16 AM by JackOLantern1337
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Again, engaging in hyperbole Jack. Stop it
Duterte mentioned in a speech that he'll back Japan to the end...
Take that carefully.
Wait, what? You can't back up Japan while pivoting away from the US and towards China.
Trump: Pacific Edition.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Backing both China and Japan is just asking for trouble. US and China is one thing, but Japan and China fucking hate each other.
Some of the locals don't really know if he wants to, aside from the fact that he wants to expand business and defense ties thanks to the MOD opening up.
Hmm.. it seems that Phils. needed to have good relations with China ASAP to negotiate with Scarborough shoal due to the numerous fishermen already starving since they cannot fish in the area. That's why they need to have these talks with China. However, China is hesitant to treat Phils. fairly. Why?
Simple. Philippines is a well-known puppet of US, her own sovereignty in question. What right do they have to demand when this country is simply under control with another? The president knew that. Therefore, he had to show Phils' sincerity in dealing with China, by doing what he did. By doing so, China agreed to bilateral talks, which has the potential to be beneficial to both sides and bought Phils. much-needed time.
Can Phils fight against China with US helping? Maybe. But remember, US is still under the process of choosing their leader. And if Trump wins...?
Don't worry, Philippines will never be independent of the US, at least, not soon. The two countries' economy and society are so intricately linked that even Duterte cannot sever ties completely. American dependence is still a reality, and that ain't gonna change soon.
edited 27th Oct '16 7:27:13 AM by Jamiester
ACCOUNT NO LONGER USED. *straps on jetpack*
Does Duterte have an idea on how the friend-enemy dynamics in East Asia work?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
The Duterte-Akihito meeting has been cancelled due to the death of the Emperor's uncle.
Seems like a good thing, I don't think Duterte can be trusted with interacting with other politically important people.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Politically important? Lol not really. The meeting would be just symbolic.
This prevents foot in mouth syndrome though which is good.
edited 27th Oct '16 9:40:28 AM by Memers
Being friendly to China is one thing, expecting 'fairness' is another. Even countries like Vietnam and Burma ended up gravitating towards the West because China doesn't play nice.
In a twist, firm that helped build South China Sea islands wins Philippine contract.
The China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC), a state-owned infrastructure group, signed a contract with the Philippines’ Mega Harbor Port and Development Inc. to conduct a 208-hectare land-reclamation project in the harbor of Davao city, where Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte formerly served as mayor, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Monday.
The reclamation is expected to finished by the end of 2019, it said. CCCC Dredging is the largest dredging company in China in terms of capacity and installed power, the report said.
Beijing has built seven artificial islands on rocks and reefs it controls in the Spratly chain of the South China Sea, with a dredging ship owned by CCCC seen in surveillance photos at one of the islets there in early 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported in November.
Analysts say the agreement is part of moves by Duterte to repair ties with Beijing amid the row over the South China Sea.
In July, a ruling by an international arbitration court invalidated China’s claims to much of the strategic waterway, through which about $5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have rival claims in the waters.
The U.S. Defense Department’s annual report on China’s military said in May that while Beijing had paused its land-reclamation work in the disputed Spratlys late last year after adding more than 3,200 acres (1,280 hectares) of land to seven features it occupies there, the man-made islets give it long-term “civil-military” outposts from where it can project power.
How 'fair' will China treat the Phils. as a trading partner will depend on how the bilateral talks will go. It is unfair for people to immediately assume that China will treat Phils. unfairly just because 'China treats in allies unfairly'. If so, what is your proof? Remember, China plays a large factor in letting the value of the U.S. dollar continue to float due to China buying the currency whenever it starts to drop in value. This results in lower American consumer prices, and also keeps China's export prices competitive in the global market. Mutual benefit. It is more beneficial for a country to be reasonable for opportunities to increase on both sides instead of petty grudges or showing off.
Ok, so even if it will be unfair, it is still beneficial for Phils. Why? This deal has given Phils. the opportunity to use the resources in disputed territory, as compared to before that Chinese boats harassing Filipino fishermen during the stand-off. And the visit brought back billions worth of investment. That means more jobs, economic growth oppurtunities, etc.. Fair or not, the benefits were prevalent.
On other news, 26 hostages, including 5 Filipinos, were finally freed from pirates! Yeyyyyyy
edited 29th Oct '16 1:03:10 AM by Jamiester
ACCOUNT NO LONGER USED. *straps on jetpack*
Do you think that China has treated the Philippines fairly so far?
I'm making a specific comparison to countries that ostensibly seemed like China's natural allies; Vietnam (a fellow communist Asian nation) and Burma (a nation ostracised by the West on human rights grounds).
Vietnam is, as far as I know, a large country with a history of communist, anti-Western government which (much like China) has attempted to transition into a more capitalistic but state controlled economy. And yet it still has a poor relationship with China and is gravitating towards the US. Honestly, China's diplomacy seems pretty terrible to me.
I'm not at all saying it's bad to seek positive relations with China. But you're demanding I prove a negative, that China is not fair. I think it's more reasonable to ask; can you demonstrate that China does treat any friendly nations fairly?
edited 29th Oct '16 4:25:18 AM by editerguy
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
The Wikipedia URL on China-Vietnam relations is broken. But fighting off an invasion due to you invading another country to stop a genocide tends to result in that.
What are you referring to? I admit, my Southeast Asian history is pretty bad, I can only draw off my general knowledge. Feel free to correct me where I'm wrong.
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
China invaded Vietnam for overthrowing the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge.
In 1979. Unlike US/Vietnam, who also had a war, they don't seem able to make up though. That frostiness seems like a common problem for the Chinese regime, from my perspective. But hey, just an impression.
The recent Chinese government has always behaved like entitled bullies in the SCS area.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Shameful Display
China has allowed Philippine fishermen to return to Scarborough Shoal
The event reached sort of memetic status here, but Duterte got Abe to do his fist gesture, the knuckles pointed at the cameras.
edited 24th Oct '16 7:20:39 PM by Quag15