President Rodrigo Duterte said he is open to having joint military exercises with China and Russia.
The President also reiterated he will no longer allow that the military forces of the Philippines will engage in a joint military exercises with the United States in the following years.
Duterte made the remarks before flying to Beijing for a four-day visit to China. The President is set to visit China on October 18 after he visited Brunei Darussalam where he met with the Filipino community and the country’s officials.
In a television interview, Duterte was asked if he would consider joint military exercises with China or Russia, and he said: “Yes, I will. I have given enough time for the Americans to play with the Filipino soldiers.”
He also reiterated that, like in his speeches in the Philippines, he would no longer allow joint exercises with the United States.
“This will be the last. It has been programmed. I do not want my soldiers to be humiliated,” Duterte said.
Last week, one set of war games in the Philippines have ended, and it was participated by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and American troops.
Duterte has repeatedly said in public that he is gearing towards a better relationship with China and Russia while moving away from the United States.
This was after the United States criticized his war on crime and drugs, which has claimed more than 3,700 lives, since he assumed office on June 30.
In an interview with the Phoenix Television, Duterte was asked if he would seek to buy military equipment from China during his visit, and he replied: “Yes, but not really in (large) numbers.”
Duterte said he would also need small, fast attack boats from China to fight “terrorism”.
“If China does not help us in this endeavor, we will have a hard time fighting terrorism,” he said without elaborating.