Philippine President Benigno Aquino said on Wednesday he hoped “ultra-nationalist” sentiment in China would ease after a leadership change next month and thereby help to resolve a maritime row.
Tensions over competing claims to parts of the South China Sea escalated in April this year when ships from the two countries became locked in a standoff over a tiny group of islets called Scarborough Shoal.
As diplomatic relations plummeted, the Philippines accused China of “duplicity” and “intimidation” in pressing its claims to the South China Sea.
Some organs of China’s state-run media also called for war against the Philippines, while the Chinese government established a new city and military garrison overseeing disputed territories in the South China Sea.
Aquino said the domestic pressures in China ahead of its once-in-a-decade transition of power had affected efforts to improve diplomatic relations to a level seen before the dispute flared.
“We hope these domestic pressures on China will be lessened after the transition so we will have more to negotiate and discuss in more reasonable terms and less ultra-nationalist terms,” Aquino told reporters.