Duterte's triangular diplomacy has risks and possible rewards

Tokyo

PHILIPPINE president Rodrigo Duterte's swing through Asia - taking in first China and then Japan - has raised the regional and international profile of the Philippines quite dramatically and may also have provided Manila with economic and strategic advantage.

Many were scandalised by Mr Duterte's strong anti-US rhetoric in meetings with Chinese president Xi Jinping and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. And that is not to mention the bluntness or profanity of his language in general, or his claim to have been in direct contact with God.

But these "eccentricities" aside, some say the Philippine leader's tactics during his Asian swing have given him leverage in dea…