After giving out strong warnings regarding China's reclamation and military activities in the disputed part of South China Sea, the Philippines' President Benigno Aquino III is now moving to defuse tensions with Beijing.

Although he reiterated that some encounters between the two countries could not be avoided, the Philippine president also mitigated the chance of the tensions escalating towards a military encounter. Aquino is now looking to defuse the tensions with China before the situation erupts into a bigger conflict, according to EJ Insight.

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Just last month, Aquino described China's territorial ambitions as a threat to "the rest of the world." But now, it seems the Philippine leader is starting to heed security experts' advice to be more practical in the situation.

James Hardy, an Asia-Pacific military and geopolitical expert affiliated with IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, explained that the both the business groups and the leftist parties are affected by any issue that the Philippines may have with China. He said Aquino should be "realistic" about the tensions with China.

Richard Javad Heydarian, a political science professor based in the De La Salle University in Manila, thinks President Aquino is attempting to build diplomatic foundations.

"With President Xi Jinping set to visit the Philippines for APEC later this year, Aquino is exploring some minimal diplomatic engagement," Heydarian explained.

The Philippines has already initiated some moves to elevate the territorial spat to the international tribunal. Aside from the Philippines and China, the disputed Spratly Islands is also being claimed by Brunei, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario last week travelled to the Washington to call for more U.S. involvement in the South China Sea dispute. Aquino himself has also visited the U.S. and Canada recently to talk to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the tensions with China.

Meanwhile, the Philippine navy launched its first joint naval drills with Japan in the disputed waters this month. The naval exercises come as the armed forces chief who recently visited Pagasa, one of the Spratly islands, and announced that they are prioritizing the construction of a new naval base in the area to counter Beijing.

The U.S., on the other hand, seems to favor calming the tensions between Beijing and Manila.

As part of U.S. President Barack Obama's Asian pivot, the U.S. Navy sent the USS Fort Worth to monitor the disputed islands just this month. But Hardy warned that the Philippines should not expect Washington to give an all-out support in this matter, because U.S. involvement in the issue would not strengthen the Philippines' territorial claims, the report relayed.

TagsBenigno Aquino III, territorial spat