China vows to keep up military pressure on the Philippines as territorial dispute grows tenser
BEIJING: China's foreign minister Wang Yi says the country will maintain military pressure on the Philippines amid a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea that could involve US forces defending their treaty partner. In a phone conversation Wednesday with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique A Manalo, Wang "warned that if the Philippine side misjudges the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles, China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.