Duterte's Cambodia visit elevated to state visit

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Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News

 

Philippine flags and portrait of President Duterte now displayed in Phnom Penh ahead of President Duterte's state visit pic.twitter.com/71HYGndzoW

— Willard Cheng (@willardcheng) December 13, 2016

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - Philippine flags, banners, and a portrait of President Duterte are now displayed in the streets of the Cambodian capital ahead of his state visit here. 
 
Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia Christopher Montero said the visit has been elevated from an official to a state visit, which is also the first "standalone" bilateral visit of a Philippine president in 20 years.  Montero said Prime Minister Hun Sen personally admires President Duterte for "standing up" against the West in calling for noninterference in state affairs. Cambodia is a known close ally of China. 
 
"Prime Minister Hun Sen has deep admiration for President Duterte. He has expressed it publicly in the past. He sees in him an ally in terms of standing up against Western countries insofar as noninterference in internal affairs of state is concerned," Montero told reporters.  "The fact that it was elevated to a state visit only shows, demonstrates, that Cambodia attaches great value to its bilateral relations with the Philippines in spite of certain differences in our approach to the South China Sea issue. But again, the South China Sea issue is not the defining issue in terms of our bilateral relations are concerned."
 
Montero expects a "lively discussion" between Duterte and Prime Minister Hun Sen on that subject when the two leaders meet on Wednesday. Cambodia's efforts in 2012 to block the mention of the Philippine move to sue China in the arbitral court on maritime rights in an ASEAN meeting statement did not sit well with then Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Duterte has since forged closer ties with China and veered away from the United States. The South China Sea issue "may or may not be discussed, with Montero saying it is not "a defining issue" between the two countries. He pointed out that there are other areas of cooperation such as agriculture, tourism, culture, and sports. 

 

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