China summons Philippine ambassador over South China Sea encounter
BEIJING, July 21 (Reuters) – Beijing summoned the Philippines’ ambassador to China on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said, due to an encounter between the two countries at Second Thomas Shoal a day earlier.
China and the Philippines traded accusations Monday following an encounter between their ships in disputed South China Sea waters; Manila said one of its navy personnel was hit in the head, while Beijing said Manila had provoked the incident.
“The incident was first instigated by the Philippine side, but it turned around and made counter-accusations, distorted the facts, and engaged in malicious exaggerations,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. he said.
Two rubber boats sent by the Philippines’ stranded ship BRP Sierra Madre rammed into a Chinese patrol boat in the South China Sea, and Philippine personnel launched “malicious attacks” against Chinese law enforcement officers using oars and long sticks, the China Coast Guard (CCG) said on Monday.
China’s foreign ministry described the actions taken by the Philippines as “horrible in nature”.
Manila had previously accused Beijing of aggressively hitting one of its navy personnel on the head with a wooden baton during Monday’s encounter and said a navy rubber boat was damaged.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, the CCG said China allowed the Philippine side to transfer injured personnel from the stranded Philippine warship via small shuttle boats “out of humanitarian concerns.”
“The CCG investigated, verified the Philippine boats and monitored the entire process,” CCG spokesman Jiang Lue said, adding that China would continue to conduct “rights protection and law enforcement operations” in the waters near the disputed territory of Second Thomas Shoal.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statements by the CCG and the Chinese foreign ministry.
The Philippine military on Tuesday called China’s claims “false and misleading” and said its personnel did not initiate any conflict.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by Karen Lema in Manila; Editing by Tom Hogue)
