While the US is pondering how to undo Duterte's dramatic reversal in policy, when last week the Philippines president announced he would align himself with China while abandoning his country's 60+ year strategic alliance with Washington, Beijing is already thinking one step ahead, specifically as pertain to China's claims over the South China Sea, where the Philippines had been one of the biggest hurdles to Beijing's territorial claims: claims which after last week have taken a far back seat as Duterte seeks to rebuild from scratch the country's new regional policy.
Which explains why overnight, in an op-ed in the official Chinese mouthpiece The People's Daily, China asserted it would never allow the US to run amok in South China Sea waters, after a US Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Decatur, sailed through the waters of the Xisha Islands on Friday without the Chinese approval.
What the US did, driven by its hegemonic mentality, cannot increase its influence in Asia-Pacific region, the article said, adding that such acts to stir up enmity and make troubles will only result in the accelerated decline of its global influence.
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