Threats don't help, Estrada tells China

Threats don't help, Estrada tells China

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Joseph Estrada pledged on
Monday to settle a raging territorial dispute with China
diplomatically, saying there was "no use of threatening each
other".

Estrada was interviewed by Filipino reporters traveling with
him during a visit to South Korea. Transcripts of the interview
were released by the presidential palace here.

Asked about news reports that China might retaliate against
Filipino workers in Hong Kong for the alleged mistreatment of
Chinese residents in the Philippines, Estrada said: "We will
settle this diplomatically. There is no use of threatening each
other."

Manila and Beijing are locked in an increasingly tense dispute
over territories in the South China Sea.