Duterte says won’t rely on US

Philippines' president-elect Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a press conference in Davao on Tuesday. (AFP)

DAVAO CITY: Philippines President-elect Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday his country would not rely on long-term security ally the United States, signalling greater independence from Washington in dealing with China and the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines has traditionally been one of Washington’s staunchest supporters in its stand-off with Beijing over the South China Sea, a vital trade route where China has built artificial islands, airstrips and other military facilities.
Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of Davao City who swept to victory in a May 9 election, has backed multilateral talks to settle rows over the South China Sea that would include the United States, Japan and Australia as well as claimant nations. He has also called on China, which claims most of the sea, to respect the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone granted to coastal states under international law.
Asked by reporters if he would push for bilateral talks with China, Duterte replied: “We have this pact with the West, but I want everybody to know that we will be charting a course of our own.
“It will not be dependent on America. And it will be a line that is not intended to please anybody but the Filipino interest.”
Duterte was unveiling his Cabinet line-up a day after a joint session of Congress declared him the election winner. He formally takes over as president on June 30.
Key ministerial appointments went mainly to conventional choices, a decision likely to allay nerves among foreign and domestic investors about a lurch away from reforms that have generated robust economic growth.
They also may point to a bid to resolve differences over the South China Sea.
The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims to waters rich in oil and gas and through which trillions of dollars’ worth of trade pass each year.
Duterte’s pick for foreign secretary, Perfecto Yasay, has sounded a conciliatory note.
“I don’t think that there is another way of resolving this dispute except talking to each other,” Yasay told reporters this week. “We certainly would like to make sure that we are able to resume bilateral talks because these are necessary.”