Mr. Duterte kept praising China.

(Baonghean.vn)-On November 15, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lavished praise on China with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is visiting the Southeast Asian country.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is on a five-day visit to the Philippines. Photo: AP

President Duterte believes that with China's transfer of rifles to Manila, the country was able to eliminate Isnilon Hapilon, the top terrorist in Southeast Asia, on October 16.

Mr. Duterte emphasized that he would return these weapons to China, as a symbol of gratitude to Beijing.

However, doubts have been raised about whether it was this rifle that killed Hapilon, and whether the Philippine military has used any of the more than 6,000 guns donated by Beijing since June.

Speaking during a meeting with Li Keqiang, the first Chinese premier to visit the Philippines in a decade, President Duterte said: “I will give you the rifle, so that the Chinese people will understand that this is a symbol of decisive support.”

President Duterte affirmed: “The weapons that you transferred to us have helped shorten the military conflict here.” This is the same thing that the Philippine leader told Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting on November 10.

In addition, Mr. Duterte also said that China's help came at the "decisive moment, when we needed it the most and no one helped us at that time".

This statement may upset the US and Australia, because from the early stages of the conflict, these two countries provided technical support to Philippine forces, including reconnaissance aircraft to pinpoint rebel bases.

For his part, Prime Minister Li Keqiang said China will provide the Philippines with 22.7 million USD to help with reconstruction in Marawi./.

Lan Ha

(According to Reuters)