Role of US in the geostrategic order in South-east Asia

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to distance his country from its treaty ally, the United States, seems to be based on his own conviction that Washington is unreliable over its claim on islands in the South China Sea.

Indeed, in August 2015, well before he began his campaign for the presidency, he is reported to have observed: "If America cared, it would have sent aircraft carriers and missile frigates the moment China started reclaiming land in contested territory." So his declaration in Beijing that he wants a "separation" from the US should not have come as a surprise.

The pivotal moment that tested the value of the US alliance was in April 2012 during the Scarborough Shoal standoff between the Philippines and China. The Philippine Navy tried to stop Chinese fishermen from operating in the area. Beijing reacted by sending in armed ships that prevented the arrest of the Chinese fishermen. When Manila issued a diplomatic protest, the Chinese embassy claimed that the three Chinese surveillance vessels at Scarborough Shoal were "in the area fulfilling the duties of safeguarding Chinese maritime rights and interests". It also claimed that the shoal was "an integral part of the Chinese territory and the waters around, the traditional fishing area for Chinese fishermen". Neither side was prepared to budge. Both Manila and Beijing then turned to the US to broker a deal. In June 2012, in what Washington said was an agreement to mutually withdraw, the Philippine Navy ships returned to base. But the Chinese vessels remained and have held fast to the shoal.