<p class="title">Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday the South China Sea dispute, involving China and five other claimants including the Philippines, was "better left untouched", Reuters reports from Manila</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have to be friends, the other hotheads would like us to confront China and the rest of the world on so many issues," Duterte said at a ceremony on the eve of a summit of East and Southeast Asian nations in the Philippine capital.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The South China Sea is better left untouched, nobody can afford to go to war."</p>.<p class="bodytext">China claims almost the entire South China Sea, with competing claims from Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.</p>
<p class="title">Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday the South China Sea dispute, involving China and five other claimants including the Philippines, was "better left untouched", Reuters reports from Manila</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have to be friends, the other hotheads would like us to confront China and the rest of the world on so many issues," Duterte said at a ceremony on the eve of a summit of East and Southeast Asian nations in the Philippine capital.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The South China Sea is better left untouched, nobody can afford to go to war."</p>.<p class="bodytext">China claims almost the entire South China Sea, with competing claims from Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.</p>
