Aquino: PHL doesn't want hostilities with China to break out

President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday afternoon said he does not want any hostilities between the Philippines and China to break out even as he welcomed the support of the United States to the country on the Spratlys dispute. “Syempre they (China) are a superpower, they have more than 10 times our population, we don’t want any hostilities to break out," Aquino said at a press conference held on the same day US Ambassador Harry Thomas expressed to the Philippines his country’s full support on the regional dispute over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and the Spratlys Islands. “Perhaps the presence of our treaty partner which is the United States of America ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation, will conform to international law," Aquino added. Aquino was referring to the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS), which states that a country has an exclusive economic authority or exclusive economic zone extending 200 miles from its continental shelf. He cited that the Reed bank, also called Recto bank, which has been the location of recent incidents of alleged intrusion by Chinese vessels, is located 80 nautical miles off Palawan province. “Why should there be a dispute if we are conforming to international law?" Aquino said. At a separate press briefing , deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Thomas’ statement reaffirmed the Philippines’s commitment to finding a diplomatic and peaceful resolution on the issue. “We are, again, have consistently said that we are pursuing peaceful resolution to the conflict—‘yung resolve po natin doon cannot be questioned and that we will do so, we will pursue such resolution through diplomatic moves," she said. China had scolded Manila for claiming that it is intruding into Philippine territory. The Philippines, on the other hand, had filed a diplomatic protest and is planning to take the matter to the United Nations. Aside from the Philippines and China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan are also claiming jurisdiction over Spratly islands, known for its rich marine biodiversity and reportedly rich in oil deposits. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News