Opinion | Rodrigo Duterte thought he had an understanding with Beijing, then came the Reed Bank collision
- The sinking of a fishing vessel in the South China Sea has become the Philippine president’s greatest foreign policy crisis, Richard Heydarian writes
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,” Michael Corleone famously says in The Godfather Part III as he realises that seemingly resolved problems have returned with a vengeance.
In many ways, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has found himself in a similar situation vis-à-vis disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.
The collision in the contested energy-rich Reed Bank, where a Chinese vessel reportedly sank a Filipino fishing boat, is Duterte’s greatest foreign policy crisis yet.
If not properly addressed, the incident, which has provoked widespread anger across the Philippines, may also sink his rapprochement with Beijing. Contradictory statements from Philippine officials as well as China’s brazenly unapologetic response have only exacerbated the already tense situation.
Speaking before the Philippine Navy earlier this week, he effectively contradicted both the defence establishment as well as the victimised fishermen by dismissing the incident as a “[little] maritime incident”.