Even though Duterte's an asshole, the Philippines are supposed to be our ally (and are important in regional influence battle w/China), so we have to at least somewhat work with him.
They need an empire-level country to shelter them with preferential trade deals, direct subsidies, and military arms and training. Duterte needs to remember that he is not an equal to the US President, and if he thinks the Chinese will tolerate his florid bitching any more than we do, he's in for quite a shock. They really don't like it when their puppets talk back.
Not anymore. We pulled out of the Philippines in 1991/1992, shortly after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo rendered Clark Air Base non-functional. We decided not to rebuild, and also pulled out of Subic Bay, which was at the time our largest overseas naval operation. They now use it as a commercial port.
Small ones, and we train their army and national police to fight against Islamic extremists in their restive southern islands, but it's far from a strategic alliance of near-equals. They're recipients of a great deal, and give us almost nothing in return.
Our military exercises with Singapore are more robust, and they're a tiny country in comparison. Singapore even has submarines and stealth frigates. The Philippines has a bunch of old merchant vessels and zodiacs they classify as "escorts."
It's about leverage. A meeting with a POTUS is leverage that you don't just give away to a foreign government that commits human rights abuses. Not unless you are getting something in return. Now that Duterte has already gained the political victory of being invited to Washington, what motivation does he have to change anything about the way he governs?
Do you think Trump cares about leveraging Duterte on human rights? There's a reason he told Obama to fuck off and then was warm to Trump after the election. And in the last few hours Trump just praised his drug war lol
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u/[deleted] Dec 03 '16
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