Philippines to 'set aside' South China Sea tribunal ruling to avoid imposing on Beiji

[Daneman]

Philippines president Duterte says: ‘I will not impose anything on China’ despite fresh report showing militarisation of disputed reefs

The Philippine president has said he would “set aside” a ruling by an international arbitration tribunal that invalidated Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea, because he doesn’t want to impose on China.

“In the play of politics, now, I will set aside the arbitral ruling. I will not impose anything on China,” Rodrigo Duterte said at a news conference on Saturday.

He made the comment when asked if a US thinktank report stating that China installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its new artificial islands in the disputed waters would affect his perception of Beijing. The Philippines claims the reefs, which were turned by China into man-made islands.

Duterte, who took office in June, has taken steps to mend relations with China that grew hostile during the time of his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, over the long-unresolved territorial disputes. The Aquino administration took the disputes to international arbitration in a move backed by Washington after China seized a disputed shoal in 2012.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ing-on-beijing

This motherfucker is crazy. He really needs to be put down. How could they elect such an idiot to their president?

[Surfd]

Umm, no, he isn't crazy. China is currently one of the top two export destinations for goods coming from the Philippines, approximately 55% of which are through the electronics sector. He knows that China could devastate his entire country's economy in short order if they really wanted to simply through trade sanctions, so he would have to be utterly stupid to want to piss them off.

[Thimagryn]

This motherfucker is crazy. He really needs to be put down. How could they elect such an idiot to their president?

Seems to be a growing trend in global politics these days.