US President Barack Obama canceled his first meeting with Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday after the blunt-spoken Duterte described him as a "son of a bitch", casting a shadow over a gathering of Asian leaders in Laos.

Duterte said hours later that he regretted his comments "came across as a personal attack" on the US president.

"President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would 'lecture' him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern," the Philippines government said.

"He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy," it added in a statement released at the summit in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

The White House had earlier said Obama would not pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte.

Duterte responded to that with his "son of a bitch" comment to reporters on Monday before leaving to join fellow leaders of Southeast Asian and East Asian leaders for the summit.

Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. At a news conference, he said he had told his aides to speak with Philippine officials "to find out is this, in fact, a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations".

Hours later, his aides said the meeting had been canceled.

Soothing tensions

Moving quickly to soothe the tensions with Washington, Duterte said in a separate statement that he remained committed to Manila's alliance with Washington.

"Our primary intention is to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting ties with all nations, especially the US with which we have had a long-standing partnership," he said.

Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 09/07/2016 page12)