FILE – In this Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016 file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center in white outfit, is escorted on a ship upon his arrival by a helicopter at a Japan Coast Guard base in Yokohama near Tokyo. Duterte proposed joint military exercises with Japan during his visit to Tokyo, while reiterating that he will not conduct them with Americans in his presidency. Duterte made the proposal during his visit to a coast guard unit to observe an exercise from one of the patrol vessels Japan pledged to provide the Philippines to upgrade Manila’s maritime security capabilities, largely in response to China’s strong assertions of its South China Sea maritime claims. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Spartan Echo 