MANILA —Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the Philippines on Nov. 20 to further strategic gains made under President Rodrigo Duterte, who hailed a “new impetus” behind a relationship that his massive infrastructure ambitions could depend on.
Xi’s visit comes two years after the maverick Duterte declared he was reorienting his foreign policy away from longtime ally the United States and toward China, despite decades of mistrust and bitter maritime disputes with Beijing.
