"President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would 'lecture' him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern," the Philippines government said. The White House had earlier said Obama would not pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte. Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Duterte said last month he expected all ASEAN members to support the arbitration court's ruling, but that the Philippines would not raise the issue in Laos.

Source: bd News24 September 06, 2016 08:03 UTC