Aquino Plays Down Spratly Tension Before China Trade Mission
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Philippine President Benigno Aquino said China has too much at stake to let territorial disputes between the two countries boil over into conflict, as he prepares to lead a 200-strong trade mission to Beijing.
“If we engage them in a boxing match there’s 1.3 billion of them and 95 million of us, there’s no way we will win,” Aquino, 51, said in an interview at the presidential palace in Manila yesterday. “But at the end of the day, they’ll close so many doors to trade that they need to sustain growth, so it doesn’t make sense for them.”