How to make the other countries believe a rapidly developing China is not a threat is really a tough issue

A quarter now name China as the world's leading economy, up from 14 percent the last time the Philippines was surveyedAt the same time, 78 percent believe the current economic situation is good, and 57 percent are satisfied with the direction of the country, a 21 percentage-point increase from 2014, the last time this question was asked in the Philippines

And despite the Philippines being the most pro-Trump nation in Pew's spring 37-country survey, confidence in Trump now is lower than it was in then-President Barack Obama in 2015The Philippines under Duterte has tried to develop an independent foreign policy rather than being a US puppet most of the timeSince becoming Philippines president in June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte has refused to be used by the US to advance its strategy

That was certainly not the policy under Obama when he launched the US pivot-to-Asia policy, trying to gang up US allies on ChinaAnd on global economic status, about half of Filipinos (49 percent) say that the US is still the leading economic power, but that is down from 66 percent who said so in 2015

The survey released on Sept 21 bore a title saying people in the Philippines still favor the United States over China, but that the gap is narrowing

This represents a dramatic shift since that question was last asked in 2015(To overblow Chinese ship's entry, Japan's foreign ministry summoned Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua in the tee hours of that day, and lodged a protest

)Refusing to have a territorial dispute in the East China Sea, Japan is unlikely to talk with China over its settlement, leaving the waters near the islands a minefieldThe Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Hatakaze quickly followed them into that area

In response to the Hatakaze's entry, the Chinese Jiangkai I-class frigate rushed into the waters, according to the Japanese weekly Nikkei Asian ReviewHiding the first part of the episode, the white paper criticized China for its frigate's entry into Japan's "contiguous" zone near the disputed islets in the East China Sea

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