The US State Department has formally extended the invitation for President Duterte to attend the Special US-Asean Summit in Washington DC in January, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. In a statement, the DFA said the preparation for the US-Asean Summit was discussed during the meeting between Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and US Undersecretary of State for political affairs Victoria Nuland. The two met at the sidelines of the Group of Seven Ministerial Meetings in Liverpool, United Kingdom over the weekend. When President Duterte took office in 2016, he proclaimed it was time for the Philippines to set aside its over-reliance on the US and pivot to China, given the constitutional mandate to craft an independent foreign policy. Pundits said China’s growing political and economic clout through its Belt and Road Initiative and the ambiguous position of the US in the territorial dispute in the South China Sea may have influenced Duterte’s decision to warmly embrace China.

Go to US, Mr. President; trumpet out Unclos win. (2021, December 16). Business Mirror, p. A10.