Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated recently after US President Donald Trump threatened to deal with the DPRK with "fire and fury" last month

The Philippines under Duterte has tried to develop an independent foreign policy rather than being a US puppet most of the timeSince becoming Philippines president in June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte has refused to be used by the US to advance its strategy

That was certainly not the policy under Obama when he launched the US pivot-to-Asia policy, trying to gang up US allies on ChinaAnd on global economic status, about half of Filipinos (49 percent) say that the US is still the leading economic power, but that is down from 66 percent who said so in 2015The survey released on Sept 21 bore a title saying people in the Philippines still favor the United States over China, but that the gap is narrowing

This represents a dramatic shift since that question was last asked in 2015Such an independent policy is dealing a heavy blow to those who still view the relationship between the three countries as zero-sum

Some even believe that he would not able to serve the full six-year term

And overall, the perception gap between the US and China in the Philippines is narrowingThe 79-year-old never expected when he was browsing the internet that day that he would uncover a piece of family history dating back some 140 years

"It was a picture I had never seen before and my instinct told me that the subjects could be my great grandparents," he told China DailyAccording to Watt, the unique wedding photograph documents the moment of the start of the prominent Nie family in China

"The groom, Nie Jigui, served as Shanghai's Governor from 1890 to 1893, died in 1911 and was buried in Hunan, while the bride, Zeng Jifen, died in 1942 and was buried in ShanghaiNot to mention, in an exhibition some 3,500 miles away from where he lived