Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte is at the halfway point of his presidency of the Philippines and since coming to power in 2016, he has made huge waves domestically and internationally for his tough talk and policies.

The one policy that has defined his presidency is his signature war on drugs that has killed thousands and prompted fierce international criticism from Western countries and the United Nations.

If one had judged Duterte by his overseas reception and assumed him to be equally unpopular domestically, they should realize there is nothing further from the truth. He is one of the most popular presidents in the history of his country.

And the main reason behind his vast domestic support is his ability to fulfill the overwhelming desire among ordinary Filipinos for strong leadership to solve the myriad problems that plagued the nation for years prior to his election.

The country suffered from weak political leadership and persistent massive poverty despite huge economic growth. The poverty directly fueled the drug menace as many poor Filipinos smoked shabu or crystal methamphetamine to keep themselves from feeling hungry. Many were pushed into the drug trade to make a living, and this caused the country to be in the deep grip of a drug crisis that required a multifaceted solution.

Whether Duterte has succeeded in solving these problems is another matter altogether. What matters is that he is seen to be doing something about them.

One gift Duterte has endowed to his country that many Filipinos have yet to appreciate fully is his decision to realign the country away from the United States toward China. It is a shrewd move on his part, as China has risen, and it is important for the Philippines to be nimble and stay ahead of the game as it adjusts to the new power dynamic within the region.

With a rising China that has become more assertive in defending and advancing its interests, the Philippines’ previous policy of allying itself with the United States for its security is neither wise nor sustainable.

Not to forget, the United States under President Donald Trump has proved itself to be an unreliable partner. It has walked away from international treaties like the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. It has repeatedly demanded – and succeeded on occasions – that allies like Japan and South Korea pay more for keeping US troops in their countries. Trump has repeatedly slammed American allies and said the US had incurred a huge cost protecting them for nothing. He has persistently shown a dangerous ignorance of the historical and strategic values that allies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere provide to the United States.

The Trump administration has shown less inclination than previous administrations to uphold the US-based international order that was established in the aftermath of World War II. It has worked actively to undermine many of the institutions it has built, such as the World Trade Organization by blocking the appointments of new judges, which has in essence caused the organization to grind to a halt. This is the very rule-based order that countries like the Philippines depend upon to survive and prosper. This is the very reason the Philippines under president Benigno Aquino referred the South China Sea dispute to The Hague tribunal.

The court eventually ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2016 and the ruling has been in essence ignored by China to no consequence.

The hard truth is that the US-built rule-based international order prior to 2016 has been defective and is not working to its intended effects. The reason is very simple, as the United States has set a bad precedent by refusing to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The convention in essence lists a set of international laws governing the passage of international waters and respecting the rights of countries territorial waters. The United States refused to bind itself to the convention and yet it demands that other countries adhere to international laws. This bad precedent gives China the essential excuse it needs not to ratify the convention as it wishes to retain leeway like the United States in ignoring international norms and rules to its convenience without facing real consequences.

This is the typical behavior of all big powers even as they tried to portray an image of adhering to international laws. There is a saying from Thucydides that says, “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

If you apply this to countries, big countries are the strong ones and they can afford to ignore treaties and norms whenever it is convenient. But these international treaties and rulings are life and death to smaller countries like the Philippines. China knows these international institutions lack real teeth when the sole superpower, the United States, has no regard for them and no country in the world has the ability and the will to sanction it for its violations of laws.

Hence the US-based international order has been defective for many years where all big powers ignore international treaties and rulings when it perceived it to be against its interests. The only consolation is the degree to which each individual big power deviates from international norms. The sad truth is that since 2017, the US-built multilateral system has come under serious strain as the United States embarked on a sharply different path.

And as the US disengages itself from the world while fighting a harsh trade war with China, it is paramount for the Philippines to align itself toward China and ensure its interests are maintained in the new power dynamic in the Asia-Pacific region.

While many observers slammed Duterte for not standing up to China when one of its ships sank a Philippine vessel in June, the hard truth is that the Philippine military is no match for the modern sophisticated Chinese military and the United States is not going to come in to help the Philippines. Hence the best strategy is to be friendly with China by setting aside such disputes for the greater good. This approach has understandably caused many to be unhappy back home, but it is the best approach for the Philippines.

It is also important for one to know that despite improving ties, the Philippines will not be a firm ally of China.

President Duterte is in essence aligning the country to the center between the US and China. He is playing two sides, and this can be seen when his administration reviewed and renewed the defense treaty with the US. The renewal came despite occasional anti-US remarks by Duterte.

And this strategy has worked and became very effective in the light of the bitter US-China trade war.

China is racing against the race to win more allies to its side and it doesn’t want the Philippines to join the side of the US. This is why China pressured its fishermen to issue a rare apology to the Philippines days ahead of Duterte’s state visit to country.

And this new approach also prompted the US to take the Philippines more seriously as it is dismayed to see its former close security ally drifting away from its orbit. The US will learn not to take its allies for granted and the only way to do so is to send a signal to the Americans that they can switch sides at any time.

By playing two sides, Duterte has extracted maximum benefits for his country and it is the new and only way forward for the country’s foreign policy in the years to come.

The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of China Daily Mail.

Categories: Politics & Law

Tags: China, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, United States