U.S. empire was also confronted by demonstrators in the Philippines, where protests threw red paint on Clinton’s convoy and clashed with security forces. The convoy was forced to detour:
Protesters clashed with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail near the Malacañang Palace Wednesday, forcing her convoy to detour, an Agence France-Presse photographer on the scene said.
Filipino security men and at least one American jumped out with automatic rifles drawn after about 50 protesters kicked their vehicles and hurled red paint on the cars, but no shots were fired, the photographer said.
[…]
At a largely friendly public meeting that was broadcast on television, a demonstrator suddenly stood up with a banner and repeatedly shouted, “Drop VFA!” before staff at the event escorted the protester out.
The protester was referring to the Visiting Forces Agreement, which gives US troops legal safeguards when they visit the Philippines.
The pact has been controversial in the Philippines after alleged crimes by US troops in the former colony, as well as opposition among some groups for any American soldiers to be in their country.
Clinton brushed off the protest and said that it was a sign that “people are unafraid to express themselves” in the Philippines.
She was on a visit to the Philippines aimed at shoring up military cooperation amid high tension between Manila and Beijing over a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
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