Duterte walks fine line between Abe, Xi

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo today and secured support for infrastructure development in Manila.

The meeting followed a trip to China, where Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral talks. During that trip, the Philippines secured $24 billion in credits and investments, including $15 billion in project commitments.

At an economic forum just prior to the meeting with Abe, Duterte stated: "I went to China for a visit and I would like to assure you that all there was was economics."

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