Manila has lodged a diplomatic protest after more than 250 Chinese ships were spotted in recent months off a Philippine-held island in the hotly disputed South China Sea, a presidential spokesman said Monday.

Under President Rodrigo Duterte the Philippines has largely set aside the once-heated territorial stand off over Beijing's claims to the resource-rich waterway in order to court Chinese investment.

However, Duterte spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters Manila had spoken up after reports emerged that a number of Chinese ships passed near Pag-asa (Thitu) island.

The military put the number of vessels, including fishing and coast guard boats, at 275 for the first three months of 2019.

"The DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) has already made a diplomatic protest over it," Panelo said. "The mere fact that they are there and just staying there for a week. Why, what are you doing?"

He did not say when the protest was filed and the DFA did not immediately issue any statements.

Control over the South China Sea is a point of regional contention because trillions of dollars of goods traverse through it and rich petroleum reserves are thought to sit deep beneath its waters.

China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have all staked claims to the sea.

Beijing's ambassador to Manila Zhao Jianhua told reporters there are Chinese fishermen operating near the island and he pledged China would look into the number of vessels.

"We do not know whether there is militiamen in that area or not, but clearly it is an area that is disputed," he said.

"We have been handling this issue through friendly diplomatic channels so you don't need to worry about whether there will be any kind of outbreak of conflict," he added.

This protest comes as the United States and the Philippines kicked off on Monday their largest military exercises, which have been running for decades between Washington and its former colony.

The US has aimed to shore up its relationship with its long-time ally, as Duterte has taken steps toward China in an effort to unlock billions of promised trade and loans.

During a visit to Manila in March, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed to defend the Philippines from "armed attack" in the South China Sea, a pledge Philippine leaders had long sought.

ICC president urges US to join global criminal court
The Hague (AFP) April 1, 2019 - The International Criminal Court's top official has called on the United States to join and support its work after Washington recently stepped up its dispute with the global legal body.

ICC president Chile Eboe-Osuji called on the US to "join her closest allies and friends at the table of the Rome Statute", referring to the court's founding document.

"The past, present and future victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes need her to do so," Eboe-Osuji said in remarks made in the US capital on Friday, released by the court on Monday.

The United States has never joined the ICC, whose chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked judges in November 2017 to authorise her to open a probe into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

Some legal experts say the case is the Hague-based court's most complex and politically controversial investigation to date. It could be the first time alleged crimes committed by US forces could be under the spotlight.

In response, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced two weeks ago that they would deny visas to ICC members involved in any investigations into actions of US troops in Afghanistan or other countries.

It was the US's first concrete action against the ICC since the White House threatened reprisals against the tribunal in September last year.

But Eboe-Osuji said: "It is, with all due sense of responsibility that I directly request the leadership of the United States to give its support to the ICC."

The ICC is the world's only independent legal body set up in 2002 in The Hague to try the gravest of crimes such genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It can however only get involved when states are unwilling or unable to investigate themselves.

It is ruled by the Rome Statute and currently has 122 member states. Its chief prosecutor can initiate investigations on her own if the probe involves at least one member state -- in this case Afghanistan.

Relations with various US administrations have been strained since the court started its work.

The US Congress in 2002 passed the American Service Members Protection Act, which contained a number of provisions should a US citizen ever be put before the ICC.

Also known as the "Hague Invasion Act," one provision within the federal law allows for the US president to authorise military force to free any US personnel held by the ICC.

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Stoltenberg extends stay as NATO head to 2022
Brussels (AFP) March 28, 2019
Jens Stoltenberg will remain as NATO secretary general through to September 2022 after the organisation Thursday extended his mandate by two years. The former Norwegian prime minister arrived in the post in 2014 and had been handed a previous two-year extension to 2020. In a statement, the alliance said its 29 members had "expressed their support for the Secretary General's work to adapt and modernise NATO and ensure it remains fit for the future." Stoltenberg, 60, vowed to pursue that goal ... read more