White House: Trump had 'very friendly' call with Philippines president Duterte

Source: Washington Examiner | April 30, 2017 | Joel Gehrke

President Trump had a “very friendly” call with Rodrigo Duterte, the brash Filipino president who declared a desire for “separation” from the United States in favor of China last year.

“President Trump also invited President Duterte to the White House to discuss the importance of the the United States-Philippines alliance, which is now heading in a very positive direction,” the White House press office said in a readout of the call.

…..

The tenor of the readout suggests Trump appealed to Duterte by overlooking the human rights abuses that provoked so much western criticism. “It was a very friendly conversation, in which the two leaders discussed the concerns of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regarding regional security, including the threat posed by North Korea,” the readout said. “They also discussed the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world.”

Duterte’s tactics in that drug war have drawn a rebuke from the Trump administration, however, in the most recent annual report on human rights. “Since July police and unknown vigilantes have killed more than 6,000 suspected drug dealers and users as the government pursued a policy aimed at eliminating illegal drug activity in the country by the end of the year,” the 2016 report, released in February by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said. “Extrajudicial killings have been the chief human rights concern in the country for many years and they increased sharply over the past year.”

……

Tagged: ,

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.