BEIJING: China’s defence ministry accused the Philippines on Wednesday of distorting the facts about an incident involving the Chinese coastguard and Filipino fishermen near a South China Sea shoal.
Manila’s coastguard said over the weekend that three Filipino fishermen were injured and two fishing vessels damaged when Chinese coastguard ships cut their anchor lines and fired water cannon near the Sabina Shoal on Friday, actions the Philippine defence secretary denounced as “dangerous” and “inhumane”.
The Chinese ministry defended its coastguard’s actions as “reasonable, lawful, professional and restrained”, and vowed to “take strong and effective measures” in response to “all acts of infringement and provocation”, according to the statement released on its social media account.