When Donald Trump recently invited Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to the White House, he signalled that he would take a different stance on relations with Manila from his predecessor, turning the page on a rocky period for two allies.
Mr Duterte last year called Barack Obama a “son of a whore”. Yet the White House described his call with Mr Trump as “very friendly” and said the two countries’ alliance was “now heading in a very positive direction”.
Democrats and some Republicans accused Mr Trump of ignoring concerns about claims of extrajudicial killings in Mr Duterte’s war on drugs. Those concerns were heightened a few days later, when Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, told US diplomats that “in some circumstances if you condition our national security efforts on someone adopting our values, we