MANILA, Philippines (AP) – After lashing out at longtime ally America, the new Philippine president is making a state visit to China in a charm offensive that will help define how far he wants to shift allegiance from treaty ally the U.S. to an Asian superpower locked in a territorial standoff with his small, impoverished country.
It’s a high-stakes gamble for brash President Rodrigo Duterte.
While he recalibrates Philippine relations with the world’s big powers, his country’s 65-year alliance with the United States – a key pillar of President Barack Obama’s rebalance to Asia – hangs in the balance. China will likely move to regain lost ground in a Southeast Asian nation that won a major arbitration lawsuit against Beijing’s massive territorial claims in the South China Sea just three months ago.
Below is a look at some of the issues surrounding Duterte’s four-day visit to China that begins Tuesday with a stop in the port city of Xiamen, then continues to Beijing for meetings with President Xi Jinping and other officials.
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