Shared values strainedDuterte's temperament and policies have strained the shared values that President Obama rightly identified as at the heart of Washington-Manila relationship. China has openly rejected the ruling, unsurprising given the importance of the South China Sea to Premier Xi Jingping. Yet Duterte's homophobic slur reveals not a well-conceived strategy to hedge between superpowers, but a country stumbling towards a dangerous isolation. The Philippines, immediately adjacent to the South China Sea, lies across the key naval and flight paths that the US uses to access the region. Of immediate concern would be the ability of the US to project power into the South China Sea.

Source: CNN August 11, 2016 12:56 UTC