Rodrigo Duterte being sworn in as the 16th President of the Philippines on June 30 2016. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, re-emphasized his desire to ‘split’ from the United States (US), during an official visit to China on Thursday. While in Beijing, to discuss a resolution to the dispute in the South China Sea, Duterte declared his intention to separate from the US, politically re-aligning himself with the Philippines and China.
"In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States," Duterte proclaimed to a forum of Chinese and Philippine business people. "Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost," he continued.
With Duterte suggesting he will also enter into discussions with Russia, the US has a lot to lose from their worsening diplomatic relationship with the Philippines. But as one of the US’s major allies, what does the severing of US-Philippines tie mean for Australia?
Diplomatically, Australia and the Philippines have been on good terms for over 70 years. Informal ties between Australia and the Philippines go back even longer, with Filipino migrants playing a vital role in the development of maritime industries in northern Australia. The Philippines fought alongside the Allied forces during both the first and second World Wars, and Australia took an active role in the 1944 liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese forces.
More recently, Australia and the Philippines officially signed off on a Comprehensive Partnership after enjoying several decades of unofficial partnership between the two nations. Currently, there is more than 120 political, economic, security and socio-cultural agreements in place. However since Duterte’s ascension to power in June 2016, the relationship between the two countries has become strained as President Duterte acted against Australia’s interests several times, frustrating Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
“The Australian government is concerned about ongoing reports of human rights violations in the Philippines and we are monitoring the situation closely. We urge the government to ensure the cessation of extrajudicial killings and offer all Filipino citizens their rights according to the country's criminal justice system,” Ms Bishop said speaking to Australian Financial Review.
Duterte came to power on his tough stance on the illicit drug trade. Some reports have claimed nearly 3,000 drug dealers and users have been killed since Duterte became president. Image credit: Wikipedia
Australia and the US have a similarly close relationship, made more important by Australia’s position in the Asia-Pacific, and as a major trading partner of China. The US has a strong (and expanding) military presence in Australia, and Australia remains the US’s only regional ally in the Indian Ocean. The fracturing relationship between the US and the Philippines, combined with the Philippines growing relationship with China, sees Australia in a difficult position.
Under Duterte’s leadership the Philippines have swiftly moved away from the US, almost playing the United States against China, in an attempt to get the greatest outcome. Australia is a major ally to the US, but also a major trading partner to China, despite having somewhat of a tumultuous diplomatic relationship. Duterte’s recently announced affiliation with China means they will gain power in the South China Sea that has been opposed by the US (and therefore Australian) interests. The blunt - and sometimes downright vulgar - comments Duterte has made, as well as the large number of extra-judicial killings are also threatening ties between the two nations.
Duterte calls Barack Obama a 'son of a whore' at a meeting in Laos. Credit: AFP News Agency/YouTube
The worst-case scenario is that Duterte severs all diplomatic ties with Australia. This is not entirely unlikely considering he has previously threatened to, and that he's already on the way to doing so with the US. This severely threatens the regional security built up over years under the previous Philippines president Benigno Aquino, and possibly the number of existing agreements between Australia and the Philippines. With it not even a year into Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term, diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific looks set to suffer major changes in the near future.
*Update: in a late-night speech on Friday, President Duterte clarified that while he remains committed to ending Philippine ‘dependency’ on the US, he wishes to retain economic ties.
