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 its treaty partner.

In a phone conversation in Beijing Wednesday with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique 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.