MANILA -- After a heated verbal tussle between Philippine and Chinese officials over dozens of Chinese ships moored in the disputed South China Sea, President Rodrigo Duterte dialed down the rhetoric on Tuesday.
"Whatever differences we have with China ... it will not be an obstacle to the overall positive trajectory of our bilateral friendly relations and our deepening cooperation [in the] pandemic response, including vaccine cooperation, and in [the] post pandemic economic recovery," Duterte said in a statement read by his spokesperson.
