Aquino wants US help to contain China

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III said Tuesday the country needed help from longtime ally the United States in its increasingly tense dispute with China over rival claims in the West Philippine Sea.

“Of course they (China) are a superpower, they have more than 10 times our population. We do not want any hostilities to break out,” Aquino told reporters when asked about recent Chinese actions in the disputed waters.

“Perhaps the presence of our treaty partners, the United States of America, ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation (and) will conform to international law.”