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| Rodrigo Duterte (Image: Wiki Commons) |
BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday that his country will no longer participate in joint patrols with the United States in the South China Sea, describing such patrols as "a hostile act."
On Monday, Duterte said that U.S. special forces in southern Philippines should leave.
Such decisions and remarks by Duterte showed signs of subtle changes in the relationship between Manila and Washington.
Duterte's spat and confrontation with the U.S. began from the recently-concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.
On Sept. 5, Duterte said before flying to Laos to attend the summit that he is a leader of a sovereign country and is answerable only to the Filipino people.
He was answering a reporter's question about how he intends to explain the extrajudicial killings to U.S. President Barack Obama. More than 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed since Duterte launched a war on drugs after taking office on June 30.
"I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina, I will swear at you in that forum," Duterte said, using the Tagalog phrase for "son of a bitch."
Duterte expressed regret over the remarks the next day, but the damage was done. His expletives against Obama prompted the latter to cancel their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.
Read the full story at Xinhua