Philippines minister backtracks from president's call for "separation" from U.S.

On Thursday night in Beijing, President Rodrigo Duterte called for a military and economic “separation” from the United States. For now on, he told a crowd, it’s the Philippines, Russia and China “against the world.”

Or not. On Friday, Duterte’s own trade minister, Ramon Lopez, sought to “clarify” the comment. “The president did not talk about separation,” he told CNN the Philippines — apparently trying to finesse the word used by Duterte.

“In terms of economic [ties], we are not stopping trade, investment with America,” he said.

But he did not attempt further interpretation of Duterte’s remarks and the apparent pro-China shift in the country’s global outlook. “[Duterte] has decided to strengthen further and rekindle the ties with China and the ASEAN region,” Lopez said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.