President Rodrigo Duterte is set to meet with United States Secretary of State John Kerry next week, in a bid to strengthen ties between the US and the new administration.
Kerry, who formerly chaired the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, will meet with Duterte and Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay in Manila from July 26 to 27.
The diplomat will come from Vientiane, Laos, where he is set to participate in the Asean Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, the Asean-US Ministerial Meeting, and the Lower Mekong Initiative Ministerial Meeting from July 25 to 26.
At the Asean meetings, Kerry will discuss the region’s security architecture and shared transnational challenges including maritime security; illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; and the South China Sea territorial disputes.
READ: US: South China Sea ruling ‘legally binding’
Last Tuesday, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg and members of a US congressional delegation paid a courtesy call on Duterte at the Malacañang Palace. Jaehwa Bernardo/INQUIRER.net trainee/CDG
READ: Duterte meets with US, UK, German envoys