Former President Rodrigo Duterte sought to lay to rest the "mystery" behind his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing over a month ago.

In a TV interview, Duterte said he asked Xi not to involve the Philippines in the rift between China and the United States.

"I humbly told President Xi Jinping that we are not a party to this large conflict between you and the United States," Duterte told SMNI.

"While we are allied with the US, it does not go to starting a war with another country," he added.

He said that if he were still president, he would not allow the country to be embroiled in a war that "is not of our own making and in which we have no interest."

To recall, Duterte caused a stir when he traveled to Beijing to meet with Xi, a day before the  International Criminal Court released its decision on his administration's war on drugs.

While Duterte had gone to Malacañang to brief President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on his Beijing trip, he did not give much details compared to the latest interview.