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Philippines police van rams protesters outside US embassy in Manila Philippines police van rams protesters outside US embassy in Manila
(35 minutes later)
A police van has rammed into protesters at an anti-US rally outside the American embassy in the Philippines capital, Manila.A police van has rammed into protesters at an anti-US rally outside the American embassy in the Philippines capital, Manila.
Protest leader Renato Reyes said at least three student activists were taken to hospital after they were run over by the van driven by a police officer. Twenty-one people were arrested, he added. At least three student activists were taken to a hospital after they were run over by the van driven by a police officer, the protest leader Renato Reyes said.
Television footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove back and forth after protesters surrounded it. Several protesters were arrested after breaking into a line of riot police and hurling paint at the embassy. Television footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove wildly back and forth after protesters had surrounded and started hitting the van with wooden batons they had seized from the police.
The violence happened as hundreds gathered to demand an end to the presence of US troops in the country and to back a call for an independent foreign policy by hardline president Rodrigo Duterte, who came to power in May, and has since made a succession of anti-American outbursts. Police later arrested 23 protesters, who broke into a line of riot police and hurled red paint at the police officers and a US government seal at the seaside embassy.
The 71-year-old is in China on a three-day state visit designed to secure billions of dollars of investment and to repair relations with the world’s second biggest economy. “There was absolutely no justification for it,” Reyes said of the violent police dispersal of about 1,000 protesters. “Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the US.”
In exchange for its support in his war on drugs, Beijing expects Duterte to back away from a long-running conflict over disputed territories in the South China Sea. The violence happened as the protesters gathered to demand an end to the presence of US troops in the country and to support a call by the president, Rodrigo Duterte, for a foreign policy not dependent on the US, the country’s treaty ally.
Duterte has railed against the US since coming to power, calling Barack Obama a “son of a whore” and telling the US president to “go to hell”. Duterte is on a state visit to China, where he is seeking to repair relations strained under his predecessor over territorial conflicts in the South China Sea. He is also seeking to expand two-way trade and investments and seek financing for infrastructure projects.
Those withering statements have led some to conclude Duterte is plotting a historic diplomatic rupture with the Philippines’ long-standing ally, from which it gained independence in 1946. Amid an uneasy relationship with the US, Duterte has tried to forge links with China and Russia, bringing uncertainty to his country’s long alliance with America.
At some point, “I will break up with America”, Duterte said in a recent speech at a synagogue in Manila. “I would rather go to Russia and to China.” The hardline president came to power in May and has since made a succession of anti-American outbursts, calling Barack Obama a “son of a whore” and telling the US president to “go to hell”.
“I will break up with America,” Duterte said in a recent speech at a synagogue in Manila. “I would rather go to Russia and to China.”