US military, China’s economy: Philippines plays it both ways with Duterte’s VFA U-turn

[Cossack25A1]

Alan Robles
Published: 9:45am, 14 Aug, 2021

• After years of anti-American vitriol and repeated threats to scrap a deal that allows US troops to operate in the country, the Philippine leader has seemingly turned on a dime
• Washington may think he’s ‘full of hot air’, but analysts see a deeper game as Manila balances its security needs in the South China Sea with its post-pandemic economic interests

US Marines on a joint exercise with Filipino troops in Zambales province, Philippines. Photo: Reuters

It was an anticlimactic and – to many minds – entirely predictable outcome: on July 30 the Philippines announced it would, after all, retain a long-standing military pact with the United States.

During a meeting in Manila with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, Philippine defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana said President Rodrigo Duterte had decided to renew, not scrap, the 23-year-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

It was a 180-degree turn for Duterte, who in an outburst in February last year vowed to terminate the VFA, a legal framework that makes it possible for US troops to operate and train in the Philippines.

MORE -> https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/poli...chinas-economy-philippines-plays-it-both-ways