Well anyhow, that Duterte seems awful, certainly a lot worse than an American military base.
Forget Donald Trump, Australia needs to worry about the Philippines' Rodrigo DuterteA political hand-grenade has just been tossed into Asian politics.
Rodrigo Duterte's upset victory in the Philippines presidential elections will have serious consequences for how the region responds to China's aggressive claim to vast tracts of the South China Sea, one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints. ...
But Mr Duterte has puzzled diplomats with contradictory positions on how he would deal with China's assertiveness and a blockade by its coastguard of waters and islands claimed by the Philippines.
He said at one point that he is prepared to break with a majority of ASEAN members to negotiate directly with China, and would even consider setting aside the Philippines' claims to parts of the disputed waters in return for economic co-operation.
But nobody knows how he will deal with efforts to end one of the world's longest-running Muslim insurgencies that has claimed 150,000 lives in the southern Philippines, or how he sees his country's membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.
Mr Duterte's election is a setback to Australia's diplomatic relations with the Philippines, which became closer in recent years as the Aquino administration sought international support in its stand against China.
He rudely told Australia's newly arrived ambassador in Manila to "shut up"http://www.smh.com.au/world/forget-donald-trump-australia-needs-to-worry-about-the-philippines-rodrigo-duterte-20160510-goqkyl.html
[edit: a lot of the above sounds like Trump.. "contradictory positions" and "has diplomats puzzled".. also, I didn't know Philippines had such a bad muslim terrorist problem, 150,000 people have been killed by terrorists? Is that how he got elected?]
[edit: from the above article, "'I'd rather choose a bad joke than a bad government," posted another supporter."
Oh my goodness that sounds like the Trump stuff.
Seeing it in the Philippines, somebody about fifty IQ points lower and more base than Trump, is a wakeup call a bit.. Trump's not that bad but yet it's the same kind of thing, Americans saying "I prefer his bad mouth to a bad government." Ugh, I hate this thread, it's the best argument there is to vote Clinton.
]
As things stand, it looks like Duterte is set to do a cold war game of playing China off the US allied bloc.. due to the strategic importance of the Philippines, the US and Australia appear willing to turn a blind eye to Duterte's human rights abuses:
US, China ready to work with DuterteWashington’s stance reflects the reality that US national security interests will outweigh human rights concerns given China’s increasingly assertive stance in the region and the maritime disputes in the South China Sea, Asia analysts said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/us-china-ready-to-work-with-duterte/
Australia congratulates Duterte, says it's "ready to work with the new government:"
SG -- assuming globalism continues and the allied bloc continues, then really you shouldn't be for a weaker USA, and China wedging into places.
Because then what can happen is a country flips and goes half and half and maybe it could turn into some really awful place, yet nobody can do anything, because the dictator has the OTHER major power (China) in his back pocket.
One north korea is bad enough, we don't need a bunch of them on all our borders.