Thai prime minister accepts Trump’s invitation to visit US

A White House statement described the call as “very friendly” and said the U.S.

It can be noted that China and Philippines have started to warm ties since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte went to office past year. In September, he compared himself to Adolf Hitler. And he’s also praised Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who took control of the country in a military coup.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner carried on in President Trump’s absence Saturday evening, and Reuters’ Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, took the occasion to push back against Trump’s “fake news” accusations.

South Korean leaders, in particular, are bewildered by Trump’s recent comment that Seoul may need to pay for a $1 billion missile-defense system – known as THAAD – that the US military is installing in South Korea.

“There is nothing right now facing this country and facing the region that is a bigger threat than what’s happening in North Korea”, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus told ABC’s “This Week” during a weekend in which Trump sought to firm up support in Southeast Asia to help rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Administration officials clarified that Trump’s call to the Philippines was only because other Asian leaders were feeling left out because Trump was focusing only on Japan, North Korea, and China.

The invitation also raises questions about USA strategic interests, Trump’s business ties and the preferred leadership style of an administration that is downsizing the State Department and concentrating decision-making among a small number of people around the President.

In early April, Trump called the Turkish president to congratulate him on winning a referendum giving him more power.

Trump said after North Korea’s latest failed rocket launch that communist leader Kim Jong-Un will eventually develop better missiles, and “we can’t allow it to happen”.

Trump telephoned Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday to reaffirm traditional close relations and invite them for meetings.

As far as our Asean neighbors are concerned, especially those with strong traditional ties to China like Singapore, Myanmar and Cambodia, the issue of which power is more significant in the region has always been settled in favor of the Chinese.

He followed by announcing he was realigning the Philippines toward China and then threatened to suspend an agreement that lets the U.S. base troops in his country.

The White House is gearing up for heavy criticism for this act both from within the government as well as from human rights groups everywhere. “Actually it could be useless, except for fighting terrorism”, Mr. Duterte said when asked how ASEAN would deal with the Chinese militarization in the disputed South China Sea.

“This is certainly an attempt by the Trump administration to re-elevate these relationships”, Amy Searight at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. He has played down his country’s territorial dispute with China in favour of seeking greater economic aid and investment from it.

The post Pres. Duterte visits Chinese warship docked in Davao City appeared first on UNTV News.

Duterte, who previous year put aside a legal challenge to Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea to start negotiating billions of dollars worth of loans and infrastructure investments, chaired the latest summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila.