PHL hopes China remains committed to resolve territorial issues

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 2): PHL hopes China remains committed to resolve territorial issues

The Philippines hopes that China is still committed to a peaceful settlement of regional territorial issues even as reports said the world’s second largest economy will double its military budget for 2015.

Reports said China will have about USD 238.2 billion military financing this year, higher than the USD 232.5 billion military budget of governments in the Asia Pacific.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, quoting a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said “the Philippines takes note of the increase of China’s military budget.”

”While every country has the right to determine the level of its defense expenditures, we hope that China, as a responsible member of the community of nations, also remains committed to the peaceful settlement of issues in the region,” the DFA statement said.

The Philippines is among the Asian countries that China has territorial dispute.

In May 2014, the Philippines filed an arbitration case against China before the United Nations (UN) tribunal.

The Philippines said China’s claim over some islands at the West Philippine Sea is illegal vis-à-vis the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=740533