Rescued Filipino fishermen transfer to another ship on June 14 after the collision with a Chinese vessel five days earlier. Photo: AP Rescued Filipino fishermen transfer to another ship on June 14 after the collision with a Chinese vessel five days earlier. Photo: AP
Rescued Filipino fishermen transfer to another ship on June 14 after the collision with a Chinese vessel five days earlier. Photo: AP
Richard Heydarian
Opinion

Opinion

On Reflection by Richard Heydarian

China-Philippines ‘hit and run’: Duterte’s downplaying of the incident is sign of his Beijing dilemma

  • When a Chinese vessel allegedly hit and sunk a Philippine ship, the reaction from the Southeast Asian nation was swift – but then it began to waver
  • On top of this, the president’s soft response is a sign of difficulty getting support for friendly relations with Beijing, writes Richard Heydarian

Richard Heydarian
Richard Heydarian

Updated: 6:36am, 18 Jun, 2019

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Rescued Filipino fishermen transfer to another ship on June 14 after the collision with a Chinese vessel five days earlier. Photo: AP Rescued Filipino fishermen transfer to another ship on June 14 after the collision with a Chinese vessel five days earlier. Photo: AP
Rescued Filipino fishermen transfer to another ship on June 14 after the collision with a Chinese vessel five days earlier. Photo: AP
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Richard Heydarian

Richard Heydarian

Richard Heydarian is a Manila-based academic and author of "Asia's New Battlefield: US, China and the Struggle for Western Pacific" and the forthcoming "Duterte's Rise"