WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will
travel next week to the Philippines, the State Department said Friday, as the
former US colony increasingly flirts with regional giant China.
Pompeo will travel to Manila on February 28 and March 1 for talks with
President Rodrigo Duterte, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said.
The top US diplomat will be paying the visit on his way back from Hanoi
where he is joining President Donald Trump for his closely watched second
summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
After winning the presidency in 2016, the brash Philippine leader
threatened to split with the United States and patch up with China by ending
a long-running sea dispute.
President Xi Jinping visited Manila in November, offering trade and
investment incentives.
Duterte has bristled at all criticism over his sweeping crackdown on drugs
and crime, which has killed thousands of people since mid-2016 despite
criticism of lack of due process.
But Trump has hailed Duterte’s actions as a sign of toughness — a marked
contrast with previous US president Barack Obama, who Duterte branded the
“son of a whore.”
The Trump administration has downplayed human rights except when pressing
adversaries and has set an overall priority of reducing the global influence
of China and Russia.