Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T06:28:01.685Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Rupture in Philippine-U.S. Relations: Geopolitical Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2016

Alfred W. McCoy*
Affiliation:
Alfred W. McCoy ([email protected]) is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Get access

Extract

“Your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States … both in military, but economics also,” said Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to a burst of applause from an audience of officials in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, the symbolic seat of China's ruling Communist Party. At the Philippine-Chinese trade forum that same day, October 20, 2016, Duterte opened his speech by asking, “What is really wrong with an American character?” Americans are, he continued, “loud, sometimes rowdy, and they have this volume of their voice … not adjusted to civility…. They are the more forward commanding voice befitting obedience.” Evoking some deep Filipino racialist tropes, Duterte then mocked the flat, nasal American accent and rued the time he was questioned at the Los Angeles airport by a “Black” officer with a “black” uniform, “black shoes,” and a “black” gun. Moving from rhetoric to substance, Duterte quietly capitulated to Beijing's relentless pressure for bilateral talks to settle the dispute over the South China Sea, virtually abrogating Manila's recent slam-dunk win on that issue before an international court (Demick and Wilson 2016; DU30 News 2016).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

France-Presse, Agence. 2016. “Duterte's Popularity Soars with Crime War—Poll.” Inquirer.net, October 6. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/822342/dutertes-popularity-soars-with-crime-war-poll (accessed October 25, 2016).Google Scholar
Almendral, Aurora. 2016. “Duterte Scorned Abroad, Remains Popular in the Philippines.” New York Times, October 13. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/world/asia/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-rating.html (accessed October 25, 2016).Google Scholar
Press, Associated. 2016. “Philippines to Suspend Joint Exercises and Patrols with US Military.” Guardian, October 7. https:// www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/07/philippines-suspend-joint-exercises-duterte-anti-us-rhetoric (accessed October 25, 2016).Google Scholar
Bengzon, Alfredo, and Rodrigo, Raul. 1997. A Matter of Honor: The Story of the 1990–91 RP-US Bases Talks. Manila: Anvil.Google Scholar
Bonner, Raymond. 1987. Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy. New York: Times Books.Google Scholar
Brendon, Piers. 2010. The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781–1997. New York: Vintage.Google Scholar
De Dios, Aurora Javate. 1988. “Intervention and Militarism.” In Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power, eds. Javate de Dios, Aurora, Bn Daroy, Petronilo, and Kalaw-Tirol, Lorna, 269324. Manila: Conspectus.Google Scholar
De Dios, Emmanuel S. 1988. “The Erosion of Dictatorship.” In Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power, eds. Javate de Dios, Aurora, Bn Daroy, Petronilo, and Kalaw-Tirol, Lorna, 70131. Manila: Conspectus.Google Scholar
De Jesus, Edilberto C., and De Jesus, Melinda Quintos. 2016. “The Mamasapano Detour.” In Mindanao: The Long Journey to Peace and Prosperity, ed. Hutchcroft, Paul, 159–95. Manila: Anvil.Google Scholar
Demick, Barbara, and Wilkinson, Tracy. 2016. “Philippine President Duterte: ‘I Announce My Separation from the United States.’” Los Angeles Times, October 20. http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-philippines-us-20161020-snap-story.html (accessed November 22, 2016).Google Scholar
Diokno, Ma. Serena. 1988. “Unity and Struggle.” In Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power, eds. de Dios, Aurora Javate, Bn Daroy, Petronilo, and Kalaw-Tirol, Lorna, 132–75. Manila: Conspectus.Google Scholar
DU30 News. 2016. “President Duterte Speech at Philippine China Trade & Investment Forum Beijing China October 20, 2016.” YouTube, October 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKUHjTWnqaA (accessed October 24, 2016).Google Scholar
Hirsch, Marianne. 2008. “The Generation of Postmemory.” Poetics Today 29(1):103–28.Google Scholar
iMoney Philippines. 2015. “Infographic: Where $26.92B of OFW Remittances Come From.” GMA News Online, June 9. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/500918/money/infographic-where-26-92b-of-ofw-remittances-come-from (accessed October 25, 2016).Google Scholar
Marshall, Andrew R. C., and Mogato, Manuel. 2016. “Philippine Death Squads Very Much in Business as Duterte Set for Presidency.” Reuters, May 26. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-duterte-killings-insight-idUSKCN0YG0EB (accessed October 25, 2016).Google Scholar
McKenzie, Sheena, and Liptak, Kevin. 2016. “After Cursing Obama, Duterte Expresses Regret.” CNN, September 6. http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/05/politics/philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte-barack-obama/ (accessed October 24, 2016).Google Scholar
Pew Research Center. 2016. “Global Indicators Database. Opinion of the United States.” http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/1/survey/all/ (accessed October 25, 2016).Google Scholar
Reilly, Brett. 2009. “Cold War Transition: Europe's Decolonization and Eisenhower's System of Subordinate Elites.” In Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of a Modern American State, eds. McCoy, Alfred W., Fradera, Josep Ma., and Jacobson, Stephen, 344–59. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Robinson, Ronald. 1972. “Non-European Foundations of European Imperialism: Sketch for a Theory of Collaboration.” In Studies in the Theory of Imperialism, eds. Owen, Roger and Sutcliffe, Robert B., 128–51. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Rottman, Gordon L. 2002. World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-Military Study. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Steinberg, David Joel. 1967. Philippine Collaboration in World War II. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Tiglao, Roberto D. 1988. “The Consolidation of the Dictatorship.” In Dictatorship and Revolution: Roots of People's Power, eds. de Dios, Aurora Javate, Bn Daroy, Petronilo, and Kalaw-Tirol, Lorna, 2669. Manila: Conspectus.Google Scholar
Torres, Ted P. 2015. “Third Highest Worldwide, OFW Remittances Seen to Hit $29.7 B in 2015.” Philstar Global, December 27. http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/12/27/1536499/third-highest-worlwide-ofw-remittances-seen-hit-29.7-b-2015 (accessed November 22, 2016).Google Scholar
Wolff, Leon. 1961. Little Brown Brother. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar