Philippines' Duterte says China still a benefactor, rejects minister's 'rude' comments

"China remains our benefactor, " Rodrigo Duterte said in a taped televised briefing on May 3,2021. - Reuters

MANILA, May 4 (The Straits Times/ANN): The Philippines is walking back caustic remarks made by its top diplomat, who told China in an expletives-laced Twitter post to get out of the South China Sea.

President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, on Tuesday (May 4) said in a news briefing that Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin was told to avoid using profanities in his public remarks, especially when it concerns diplomacy.