Philippines ‘Separation’ From U.S. Jilts Hillary Clinton, Too

[Jackson]

Philippines ‘Separation’ From U.S. Jilts Hillary Clinton, Too

WASHINGTON — When the Philippines appeared to jilt its old ally the United States in favor of China this week, it repudiated not only President Obama and his “pivot” to Asia, but also Hillary Clinton, who made reaching out to the region her signature project as his secretary of state.

The White House said on Friday that it was troubled by the statements made by President Rodrigo Duterte during a visit to Beijing, in which he announced a “separation” of the Philippines from the United States, a treaty ally, and said it was “time to say goodbye, my friend.”


If anything, a rift would be even more personal for Mrs. Clinton than for Mr. Obama. As secretary of state, she laid the groundwork for the president’s focus on Asia and, in particular, his reassertion of America’s presence in Southeast Asia. In 2011, she stood on the deck of a Navy warship in Manila Bay to dramatize support for an ally then entangled in territorial disputes with China over reefs and islands in the South China Sea.

A year earlier, Mrs. Clinton thrust the United States into this long-running conflict, saying the United States had a stake in seeing these disputes resolved in a way that guaranteed American ships freedom of navigation through the South China Sea’s busy shipping lanes.

It was one of her first big initiatives as secretary of state. She kept raising it with the Chinese throughout her time at the State Department, and she said later that she viewed the South China Sea as a litmus test in a broader geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/22/us/politics/philippines-china-us-asia-pivot.html?_r=0
'US losing another ally...at least the country said "Good-bye". Thank you Hillary. Thank you Obama. Incompetence brings ineptitude to foreign affairs yet again.

 

[Manonthestreet]

If they end up deep into Chinese ZOC its a yuge disaster.......Trump SOS is going to be very busy trying to undo eight yrs of neglect and hostility of Obama