MANILA (Agencies): The Philippines and China agreed on Tuesday to “de-escalate tensions” over the South China Sea, Manila said, following a violent clash in the disputed waters.
“The two sides discussed their respective positions on Ayungin Shoal and affirmed their commitment to de-escalate tensions without prejudice to their respective positions,” the Philippine foreign ministry said in a statement after a meeting of vice foreign ministers in Manila, using the Philippine name for Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
The China Coast Guard earlier said that the Philippines dispatched three vessels to resupply a Philippine coast guard vessel (9701) “illegally” stranded on a reef in the South China Sea that Beijing claimed as part of its territory.
In a statement on Tuesday, the China Coast Guard said it had followed and monitored the supply mission to Sabina Shoal, and that the vessels’ presence at the reef had “violated” China’s territory sovereignty and “undermined” peace and stability in the South China Sea.
