China Sends Duterte an Ominous Present

“It’s our lake, Digong, forget the gift.”

Almost five years after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte chose to give away his nation’s 2016 victory at the Court of Arbitration to China over control of the South China Sea in return for promises of huge investments, China has shown its gratitude: a swarming attack by some 220 vessels billed as fishing boats on Whitsun reef. The reef, which barely…