When Donald Trump recently invited Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to the White House, he signalled that he would take a different stance on relations with Manila from his predecessor, turning the page on a rocky period for two allies.

Mr Duterte last year called Barack Obama a “son of a whore”. Yet the White House described his call with Mr Trump as “very friendly” and said the two countries’ alliance was “now heading in a very positive direction”.

Democrats and some Republicans accused Mr Trump of ignoring concerns about claims of extrajudicial killings in Mr Duterte’s war on drugs. Those concerns were heightened a few days later, when Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, told US diplomats that “in some circumstances if you condition our national security efforts on someone adopting our values, we probably can’t achieve our national security goals”.