Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will summon the Chinese ambassador to Manila for talks, his office said today, hours after the country's ambassador to Beijing was summoned for similar talks over mutual accusations of stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.
The mutual calls came after the Philippines and China accused each other of an incident near the Second Thomas Reef in the South China Sea, in which naval personnel fought with oars, Reuters reports.
Philippine officials said one of their navy personnel was hit in the head, while Beijing claimed Manila had provoked the incident.
"The Philippine side first provoked the incident, then made counter-accusations, distorted facts and launched a malicious media campaign," China's Foreign Ministry said.
The Chinese coast guard said yesterday that two Philippine rubber boats had rammed a Chinese patrol ship in the South China Sea, and that the Filipinos had launched "malicious attacks" on the Chinese officials with oars and long poles.
Today's announcement is the third publicly recorded instance in which China summoned the Philippine ambassador for talks during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
China's Foreign Ministry described the Philippines' actions as "extremely unacceptable," while Manila accused Beijing of aggressively hitting a member of its navy with a wooden bat on the head and said a rubber boat was damaged.
The Philippine military today described the Chinese claims as "false and misleading," stating that its members did not cause any conflict.
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