President Barack Obama cancelled what would have been his first meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, after Duterte described Obama in vulgar terms, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday. Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China. “I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting, that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done,” Obama told reporters. The White House had said Obama did not plan to pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.

Source: Hindustan Times September 05, 2016 21:56 UTC