US Secretary of State Pompeo to visit Philippines amid China flirtation

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the United Nations in New York. (AFP)

WASHINGTON–US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel next week to the Philippines, the State Department said Friday, as the former US colony increasingly flirts with regional giant China.

Pompeo will travel to Manila on February 28 and March 1 for talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said.

The top US diplomat will be paying the visit on his way back from Hanoi where he is joining President Donald Trump for his closely watched second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

After winning the presidency in 2016, the brash Philippine leader threatened to split with the United States and patch up with China by ending a long-running sea dispute.

President Xi Jinping visited Manila in November, offering trade and investment incentives.

Duterte has bristled at all criticism over his sweeping crackdown on drugs and crime, which has killed thousands of people since mid-2016 despite criticism of lack of due process.

But Trump has hailed Duterte’s actions as a sign of toughness — a marked contrast with previous US president Barack Obama, who Duterte branded the “son of a whore.”

The Trump administration has downplayed human rights except when pressing adversaries and has set an overall priority of reducing the global influence of China and Russia.