海角大神

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and US President Barack Obama put aside their differences to informally meet on Wednesday, after the White House canceled their scheduled meeting on Tuesday聽after Mr. Duterte warned the president not to question his harsh crackdown on drugs.聽

Duterte later apologized for his vulgar comments, in which he threatened to curse at Obama if he questioned the Philippine president about violence associated with the anti-drug push, which has left more than 2,000 people dead.聽

The pair met briefly and shook hands in a holding room ahead of a formal dinner at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Vientiane, Laos, officials said.聽

"They met at the holding room and they were the last persons to leave the holding room," Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told the Associated Press. "It all springs from the fact the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong. The basis for this relationship is historical and both leaders realize this. And I'm very happy that it happened."

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Duterte insisted that Obama had to right to question him about the scores of extrajudicial killings generated by the crackdown in the Philippines, which has been sharply criticized by human rights groups.聽

"I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions," he said, promising he would swear at Obama if the issue were brought up.聽

More than聽聽since Duterte took office on June 30.聽About 1,000 are suspected drug users and dealers killed by police, Time reports, while the remainder are under investigation, with the bulk said to be vigilante killings.聽His efforts to decrease crime rates and the drug trade have taken a huge humanitarian toll, but the president remains popular, with 91 percent of respondents in one poll saying in the leader.聽

"What's emerging is a portrait of a leader 鈥� and a people 鈥� willing to at least temporarily suspend the judicial process 鈥� the rule of law and the right to a trial 鈥� in favor of a hardline path to greater sense of security," 海角大神's David Iaconangelo wrote last month:

鈥淔ilipinos are very weary of high crime rates in the country, and the president has played successfully to insecurities. A lot of people see the killings as a necessary evil in the pursuit of his agenda,鈥� says Anni Piiparinen, a specialist on Southeast Asian security at the Atlantic Council and assistant director of the cyber statecraft initiative there. The crime rate has gone down since Duterte entered office, she tells 海角大神, as it did in Davao City during his term as mayor. 鈥淢any people are willing to make this tradeoff.鈥�

Others are concerned, however, about the humanitarian implications of the crackdown. Duterte has encouraged vigilante killings of drug dealers, and has said that 鈥減lenty will be killed鈥� before the problem is solved and the crackdown ends.

The Philippine president also responded negatively to UN criticisms of the killings. On Wednesday, he did not attend a meeting of ASEAN leaders with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.聽

On Wednesday evening, however, Duterte and Obama's brief chat聽was 鈥渨arm and cordial,鈥� according to Filipino politician Alan Cayetano. The Philippines ambassador to Laos, Marciano Paynor, attributed Duterte鈥檚 diplomatic faux pas to the learning curve between his prior position as a mayor to his current role as president.

"He has to experience it," Mr. Paynor said. "If you don't experience it, you don't know how it's done, you'll be grappling."

This report includes material from Reuters and the Associated Press.