Beijing on Friday issued its first direct comment on a reported collision in the South China Sea earlier this week, with its defence ministry strongly condemning the Philippine coastguard for “dangerous manoeuvring”.
The Philippine vessels “severely jeopardised the safety of Chinese ship personnel”, ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said, referring to the confrontation near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Monday.
Several Philippine coastguard vessels and government ships had “illegally entered… South China Morning Post