Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will not withdraw navy and coast guard boats patrolling the disputed South China Sea, insisting the country's sovereignty over the waters is not negotiable.

Tensions over the sea -- which China claims almost entirely -- have spiked as Beijing refuses to pull out vessels from the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone and Manila steps up maritime patrols.

Duterte is under growing domestic pressure to take a harder line, but has been reluctant to confront China over the issue as he fosters closer ties with the economic giant.

He said late Wednesday that while the Philippines is indebted to its "good friend" China for many things, including free Covid-19 vaccines, his country's claims to the waterway "cannot be bargainable".

"I'll tell China, we do not want trouble, we do not want war. But if you tell us to leave -- no," Duterte said.

"There are things which are not really subject to a compromise, such as us pulling back. It's difficult. I hope they understand, but I have the interest of my country also to protect."

Duterte's remarks came after the country's defence department said "China has no business telling the Philippines what we can and cannot do with our own waters".

The Philippine coast guard is conducting drills near Thitu Island and Scarborough Shoal, as well as the Batanes islands in the north and the southern and eastern parts of the country.

Scarborough -- one of the region's richest fishing grounds -- has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing.

In response to the exercises, China's foreign ministry said Monday the Philippines should "stop actions complicating the situation and escalating disputes".

In recent weeks, Manila has boosted "sovereignty patrols" involving the navy, coast guard and fisheries in the Spratly Islands -- an archipelago contested by several countries.

Beijing has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the South China Sea to be without basis.

Once-frosty ties between Manila and Beijing have warmed under Duterte, who set aside the ruling in exchange for promises of trade and investment -- which critics say have not materialised.

Delays in Covid-19 vaccine deliveries has left the Philippines heavily reliant on the CoronaVac jab developed by China's Sinovac.

Around 3.5 million doses of CoronaVac have been sent to the Southeast Asian country so far, including one million donated doses.

Stressing diplomacy, Biden says not seeking conflict with China, Russia
Washington (AFP) April 29, 2021 - US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he was not seeking conflict with China or Russia as he put a renewed focus on diplomacy in his first address to Congress.

In a speech focused on selling major investments at home, Biden told lawmakers who months earlier had dodged a deadly insurrection that they needed to show democracy can work.

"We're in a competition with China and other countries to win the 21st century," Biden said, warning: "Autocrats think democracies can't compete."

Biden said he told President Xi Jinping in a two-hour first phone conversation after taking office: "We welcome the competition -- and that we are not looking for conflict."

"But I made absolutely clear that we will defend America's interests across the board," he said.

"America will stand up to unfair trade practices that undercut American workers and industries, like subsidies for state-owned enterprises and the theft of American technologies and intellectual property," he said.

"I also told President Xi that we will maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific just as we do with NATO in Europe -- not to start a conflict but to prevent one," Biden said to applause from an unusually small audience due to Covid restrictions.

In an aside that was not in prepared remarks, Biden noted his extensive dealings with Xi when both were vice presidents -- and warned that China's most powerful leader in years had firm plans for the future.

"He's deadly earnest on becoming the most significant, consequential nation in the world," Biden said.

Tensions have sharply risen with China over the past few years as the United States also take issue with China's assertive military moves and human rights concerns, including what Washington has described as genocide against the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority.

- Focus on cooperation -

The speech marked a shift from the hawkish nationalism of his predecessor Donald Trump, with Biden repeatedly speaking of global cooperation.

"There is no wall high enough to keep the virus out," Biden said, alluding to Trump's cherished wall on the Mexican border.

Similar to his message on China, Biden said he did not seek worse relations with Russia.

In his first three months in office, Biden has imposed sanctions over Russia's purported poisoning of ailing dissident Alexei Navalny and over its alleged interference in US elections and hacking operations.

But Biden has also proposed a summit in a third country with President Vladimir Putin to bring stability to relations and pointed in his speech to cooperation on climate change and the extension of New START, the last Cold war nuclear reduction treaty.

"I made very clear to Putin that we are not going to seek escalation but their actions will have consequences," Biden said.

Flipping the language of George W. Bush when used the same platform nearly two decades ago to assail an "axis of evil," Biden vowed diplomacy on the "serious threat" of the nuclear programs of both Iran and North Korea.

"We'll be working closely with our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries through diplomacy and stern deterrence,'" Biden said.

The United States is holding indirect talks with Iran in Vienna in a bid to re-enter a denuclearization accord trashed by Trump.

The Biden administration is separately reviewing policy on North Korea after Trump's unusually personal diplomacy that included three meetings with leader Kim Jong Un.

Vowing to exert US leadership, Biden also said he was reasserting US priorities by ending "the forever war" in Afghanistan -- where he is pulling out remaining troops after 20 years.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

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Stressing diplomacy, Biden says not seeking conflict with China, Russia
Washington (AFP) April 29, 2021
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he was not seeking conflict with China or Russia as he put a renewed focus on diplomacy in his first address to Congress. In a speech focused on selling major investments at home, Biden told lawmakers who months earlier had dodged a deadly insurrection that they needed to show democracy can work. "We're in a competition with China and other countries to win the 21st century," Biden said, warning: "Autocrats think democracies can't compete." Biden said he ... read more