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Agence France-Presse

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter on Friday criticised the “deeply troubling” remarks by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in which he likened his deadly war on crime to Hitler’s efforts to exterminate Jews.
Speaking personally for myself, I find those comments deeply troubling
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter
Carter’s comments came during a regional security summit with Southeast Asian ally nations, where he sought to reassure counterparts that America’s ongoing commitment to its Asia “rebalance” would continue into the next US administration.
Earlier on Friday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had made televised remarks drawing parallels between his campaign to wipe out his country’s drug problem and Adolf Hitler’s genocidal drive.
“Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts [in the Philippines]. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte told reporters in his home city of Davao.
Carter said the remarks were not discussed at the summit.
But “speaking personally for myself, I find those comments deeply troubling,” he added.
The “informal” meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), held on Oahu in Hawaii, focused mainly on longer-standing regional issues such as continued unease over China’s growing reach across the South China Sea.
Beijing has in recent years rapidly expanded its physical presence in the strategically vital waterway, turning small maritime features, islets and reefs into much larger islands capable of holding military facilities.

Carter has repeatedly stressed that the US military will ignore Beijing’s contentious South China Sea claims, and keep operating in waters and airspace surrounding the islands.
“The United States would like to help all our nations see more, share more, and do more to keep Southeast Asia’s vital waterways open and secure,” Carter said earlier on Friday.
Another topic high on the agenda was the rise in Islamic State-affiliated groups, especially in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as the return from Iraq and Syria of war-hardened jihadists. “I was able to describe how the defeat of [IS] in Iraq and Syria would demonstrate that there is no state based upon [their] Ideology,” he said.
But “I also expected to see real and attempted metastases to Asean nations.”

America’s rebalance to Asia – or “pivot,” as it is sometimes called – has been a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, with a shifting of focus away from the Middle East and toward the Asia-Pacific region.
He has mended relations with Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos while bolstering regional blocs and providing a counterbalance to China’s regional ambitions.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines recently agreed to conduct joint sea patrols to fight piracy, organised crime, and terrorist activity in the Sulu Sea.
A senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was confident America would retain its Asia focus whatever the result of November’s presidential election.
“We’ve got a good thing going,” he said. “There are a lot of opportunities left over. And we want to make sure that our position in the region is solid for the next president.”

The Pentagon chief met privately with all 10 defence ministers, including the Philippines’ Delfin Lorenzana, a former diplomat who lived for 14 years in Washington.
Carter said the two had “very good” discussions about the continuation of the two countries’ military alliance, which dates back more than 60 years, and which the Pentagon chief on Thursday said was “ironclad.”
The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte: saviour or madman?
Their meeting drew intense scrutiny following Duterte’s Hitler comments, and other remarks earlier this week in which he vowed to end joint military exercises with the United States.
The firebrand leader has also called Obama a “son of a whore” and extended overtures to China, potentially upsetting the strong US-Philippine alliance. Lorenzana declined to comment on his president’s comments when contacted by AFP.


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Philippine president’s Hitler remarks ‘deeply troubling’, Pentagon chief says

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter makes a speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in port in San Diego. Photo: Kyodo

In this Sept. 27, 2016, photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses Philippine Marines in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines. As the body count mounts in the Philippines' war on drugs, and its combative president's rhetoric plumbs new depths, the mood in Washington toward the key Asian ally is hardening. Influential U.S. lawmakers are warning that the extra-judicial killings in the drugs war _ that Duterte on Sept. 30 compared to the Holocaust _ could affect American aid. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter (L) shakes hands with Philippines Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana at an ASEAN security meeting in Hawaii, on September 30, 2016. The pair met after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte this week vowed to end joint military exercises with the United States. / AFP PHOTO / DoD / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / DoD " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte gestures while delivering a speech before female police officers during a gathering in Davao city, Philippines September 30, 2016. Picture taken September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr