China offered fresh praise for visiting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, lauding “friendly” relations as the combative leader reconfigures his country’s diplomatic alliances.

Duterte is in China for a four-day trip that is expected to cement his tilt away from Washington and towards Beijing’s sphere of influence.

Foreign policy under Duterte has dramatically shifted from that pursued under predecessor Benigno Aquino, who took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the South China Sea and won a resounding victory.

The move infuriated Beijing but Duterte, who took office in June shortly before the tribunal ruling, has made a point of not flaunting the outcome.

At a regular briefing Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing was pleased to move towards resolving the territorial dispute “through consultation and dialogue”.

“This is how two friendly neighbours should treat each other,” she added.

“Anyone who truly wishes for peace, stability, development and prosperity in the Asia Pacific” should welcome Duterte’s visit.

Duterte will meet top leaders including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during his stay, and was also due to meet members of the Filipino community in Beijing later Wednesday.

On the eve of his arrival in Beijing, the firebrand former lawyer was quoted by China’s official Xinhua news agency state media saying: “Only China can help us.” As Duterte has cosied up to Beijing, he has repeatedly denounced the US and President Barack Obama for criticising his deadly war on crime.

He has also suspended joint US-Philippine patrols in the South China Sea, and has threatened an end to joint military exercises.

The South China Sea is of intense interest to Washington and it has repeatedly spoken out on the various territorial disputes between China and its neighbours over the strategically vital waters.

Tensions have risen between the US and China over Washington’s so-called “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific, a move that Beijing says is intended to contain it.

In an editorial Wednesday, China’s nationalist Global Times newspaper said Washington had treated Manila “as a pawn”, adding Duterte was now “redesigning Philippine foreign policy based on Philippine interests”.

Duterte has said his China trip will focus on promoting economic ties.

The Philippines is hoping, among other things, that Beijing will repeal a ban on imports of its bananas – an economic sanction intended to punish Manila for its South China Sea stance.

Hua said Wednesday announcements on infrastructure co-operation and economic development projects could be expected during the Philippine leader’s visit.

Beijing has also enthusiastically endorsed Duterte’s war on drugs, which has seen more than 3,700 people killed and led the International Criminal Court to warn that those responsible could face charges.

Hua praised Duterte Wednesday for “rolling out policies to ensure social order and public security”, adding that the two sides were already in close communication about cooperating on drug control and anti-crime issues.

Makers of traditional Japanese dolls have taken fright over the use the kimono-clad figurines in a haunted house at the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka.

With Halloween just around the corner, the group sent a protest letter this week to Universal Studios Japan, which runs the amusement park in the southern city, saying it made the dolls seem cursed.

“This really undermines the image of Japanese dolls,” said the statement from the Association of Japanese Dolls.

“They’re placed in the haunted house with stage blood and other special makeup.” Some Japanese dolls do have a history of being linked to ghosts and the supernatural, and the US-based amusement park operator has reportedly refused to remove hundreds of the dolls from its spooky exhibit.

The company did confirm that it had leased the dolls – which have white faces and jet black hair – from a shrine in western Japan.

People who don’t want their dolls anymore often bring them to the shrine for a memorial service.

In Japan, many people believe that inanimate objects, such as dolls or chopsticks, have a soul like humans and animals.

Myanmar is struggling to establish full democracy after 50 years of military rule, de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday following a deadly military lockdown in restive Rakhine state.

State media say security forces have killed at least 29 people in a military crackdown after raids on guard posts along the Bangladesh border which the government blamed on Islamist insurgents.

The area is home to many Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country.

“We as a nation are struggling to make the democratic culture take root,” Suu Kyi told reporters after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on her first official visit to New Delhi.

“We too have many challenges to face, but we are confident that these challenges can be overcome because our people are determined to overcome them.” Suu Kyi won a historic election victory last year and her administration is managing a difficult transition from a military-run pariah nation to full-fledged democracy.

After spending much of the last few decades under arrest, she is now officially foreign minister and self-appointed state counsellor – a role akin to prime minister.

But her country remains riven with ethnic and religious violence and she has disappointed some of her supporters by refusing publicly to recognise the Rohingya as legal citizens.

Tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya have spent the past four years trapped in bleak displacement camps with limited access to health care and other basic services.

Suu Kyi said her country had suffered from a lack of peace and stability for many decades and looked to neighbouring India for help in developing as a democracy.

Modi said India, which strongly supported Suu Kyi during her time in opposition, stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Myanmar.