Now, this is a leader, and not a populist oneTO be honest, my admiration for President Duterte went up a few notches with his principled stand on the Recto Bank incident, despite the hysterical screams of the Yellows and even of people you would have thought were sober, for him to bash China for the Reed Bank incident. IncidentI use the term Recto Bank incident because the detailed facts haven’t been determined at this point. The US is actually handicapped here as it has no business at all in the South China Sea, since it has absolutely no territorial claims in the area. Well, China is quickly building its blue-water fleet, will the US allow it to undertake its own freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea? In contrast to the US, China has sovereignty claims against littoral states in the South China Sea, flashpoints the Americans want to ignite into a conflagration against the superpower.

Source: Manila Times June 18, 2019 16:18 UTC