“I will be chartering [sic] a (new) course (for my country) on its own and will not be dependent on the United States," Rodrigo Duterte declared shortly after winning the Philippines’ presidency in 2016.
Over the next six years, the controversial president dramatically altered the tenor and trajectory of the Philippines’ foreign policy by openly courting China and Russia at the expense of traditional allies.
Duterte also downplayed the landmark South China Sea arbitration ruling in 2016, which rejected much of China’s excessive claims across the disputed waters. To Beijing’s delight, he also supported resource-sharing in the area, even if it undermined the Philippines’ sovereign rights. He also repeatedly threatened to end key defense agreements such as the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement, a cornerstone of bilateral defense cooperation in the past two decades.