The One Country Rodrigo Duterte Won't 'Separate' From Anytime Soon

Renato Cruz De Castro

Security, Asia

The answer: Japan

From October 18 to 21, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is making his first state visit to China as part of his push for an “independent” Philippine foreign policy. Although analysts have seen the trip and numerous anti-Western remarks as signs of Duterte rejecting the United States and pivoting fully toward China, the ongoing warmth of the security relationship with Japan—China’s greatest rival in East Asia—hints at a greater balancing act within Duterte’s foreign policy vision.

Less than a week before leaving for Beijing, Duterte gave an address praising Japan for its continued assistance to the Philippines, including 10 patrol ships donated to the Philippine Coast Guard. Speaking during the 115th anniversary of the Philippine Coast Guard, Duterte praised Japan as one of the biggest contributors of official development assistance to the Filipino people, and cited the aid the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided to Davao during his time as mayor.

It is interesting that, despite Duterte’s efforts to engage China on business and to manage the tension in the South China Sea, he also sees the need to secure more ships from Japan to patrol the Philippines’ maritime territory. In front of Japanese ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa, Duterte announced “We need ships…it is not enough, but at least we have ships to begin with. The old ones, plus the new one that has been delivered to us, would greatly help us in this endeavor.”

Duterte’s trip to China focuses on forging a new economic partnership between the two countries at a time when diplomatic tension between the Philippines and its formal treaty ally, the United States, is increasing. His working visit to Tokyo, however, scheduled for October 25 to 27, is expected to clarify how Japan will help the Philippines develop its maritime security capabilities in light of the South China Sea dispute. Despite the efforts to move closer to China, Manila finds it prudent to keep its security partnership with Japan intact and functional.

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