MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he did not mean he would cut off ties with the United States when he said in China that he was separating from the U.S., adding it’s in his country’s best interest to stay with America.

Despite the clarification, the tough-talking president kept up his tirades against the U.S., saying in a late-night speech in his southern hometown of Davao city that he would never travel to America “in this lifetime.”

At an economic forum Thursday in Beijing, where he made a state visit, Duterte declared “my separation from the United States … both in military and economics also.” His pronouncement was met with applause, but Duterte did not explain what he exactly intended to do and when.

Duterte, however, said in an arrival speech in Davao that he was not severing ties with his country’s treaty ally that is home to a large number of Filipino expatriates.

“When you say severance of ties, you cut the diplomatic relations. I cannot do that. Why? It’s to the best interest of my country that we maintain that relationship,” Duterte said, adding that Filipinos were not ready to embrace such an option.

What he meant by his remarks in China, Duterte said, was ending a Philippine foreign policy that closely leaned toward the U.S.

Ahead of his China visit, Duterte made a series of pronouncements to curb Philippine security engagements with the U.S., including the removal of American counterterrorism forces in the country’s south and his opposition to planned joint patrols with the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea.