Manila, Aug. 14 -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday said his planned "reset" of the Philippines' relations with China aims to ease tensions and prevent misunderstandings that could escalate into conflict.

Speaking at a presidential luncheon hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines at the Diamond Hotel Philippines, Marcos said the reset means returning to dialogue whenever tensions between Manila and Beijing begin to rise.

"It's a reset in the sense that if we are beginning to detect or to feel an increase in tensions or an escalation in tensions, then we have to once again go back and talk to our friends in China and say, 'Look, this is not headed in the right direction,'" Marcos said.

He said the...