President Barack Obama cancelled what would have been his first meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, after Mr. Duterte described Mr. Obama in vulgar terms, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday.Earlier, Duterte had called Barack Obama a “son of a whore”, saying that he would not be lectured by the US leader on human rights, according to AFP news agency.
Duterte, a plain-spoken populist known for his colourful remarks and his campaign against illegal drugs in which thousands of people have died, described Mr. Obama in vulgar terms to reporters on Monday, a day ahead of the planned meeting in Laos, where South Asian leaders are meeting for annual summits.
Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China. At a news conference, he said he had told his aides to speak with Philippine officials “to find out is this, in fact, a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations,” leaving little doubt that the meeting would not proceed as planned.
“I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting, that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done,” Mr. Obama told reporters.
Instead, Mr. Obama now plans to meet later on Tuesday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, said Ned Price, spokesman for the White House National Security Council — a meeting where the response to North Korea’s latest missile tests is expected to be on the agenda.
Obama arrived in Vientiane just before midnight on Monday, for the first visit by a sitting U.S. President to Laos, where he wants to begin to address the legacy of U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War.
