The Philippines should emulate Malaysia and resolve its territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea in an "amicable way" instead of resorting to "confrontation" through "unilateral arbitration," Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang said Monday.

In an opinion piece titled "The Way of Amicable Consultations" that appeared in Monday's edition of The Star English-language daily, the envoy said while the Malaysia-China relationship is "at the best time of history," the Philippines-China relationship is experiencing "severe difficulties."

"The reason behind such striking contrast lies in the different ways the two claimants chose to deal with the disputes with China," Huang said.