BEIJING, Dec 17 (Reuters) – China’s defence ministry accused the Philippines on Wednesday of distorting the facts about an incident involving the Chinese coast guard and Filipino fishermen near a South China Sea shoal, and defended Chinese actions as “reasonable and lawful”.
Manila’s coast guard said over the weekend that three Filipino fishermen were injured and two fishing vessels damaged when Chinese coast guard ships cut their anchor lines and fired water cannon near the Sabina Shoal on Friday.
China will “take strong and effective measures” in response to “all acts of infringement and provocation,” read the statement from China’s defence ministry on its social media account.
The Embassy of the Philippines in Beijing and the Philippines defence ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Karen Lema in Manila; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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