Duterte's foreign policy has focused on configuring the Philippines' external relations to maximise the time and space he has to pursue his domestic security priorities. To that end, he has embarked on two parallel courses of action. The first is resolving outstanding disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea in an effort to remove what was a key source of international distraction during the Aquino presidency. The second is adopting an ‘independent' foreign policy that lessens the Philippines' dependence on the United States while improving relations with China and other non-traditional partners such as Russia.
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