MANILA/BEIJING, July 22 — The foreign ministers of the Philippines and China met in Manila yesterday, with both sides lodging strong protests over an encounter involving vessels from the two countries this week in disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro said in a post on X that she had reiterated Manila’s protest over what she described as “unacceptable actions against Filipino personnel”, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to an official readout, lodged a protest over “the Philippine personnel’s egregious act of ramming Chinese law-enforcement vessels”.
Bilateral ties have been strained in recent years amid repeated maritime confrontations in the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated those claims.
The latest incident occurred on Monday at the Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippines said personnel from the Chinese Coast Guard struck a member of the Philippine navy on the head with a wooden baton, while China said Philippine personnel initiated the confrontation and accused Philippine vessels of ramming a Chinese patrol boat.
During the meeting, Wang told Lazaro that China-Philippines relations were at a crossroads and that the Philippines needed to make a “correct and rational” choice regarding its future direction, according to a statement issued by China’s foreign ministry.
Wang also accused “certain forces” within the Philippine military and police of deliberate provocation, undermining dialogue and “carrying out the orders of external forces”.
Lazaro said the two sides had also discussed “the importance of keeping communication lines open, managing tensions and pursuing practical ways forward”.
