Philippines and China hold 'friendly and candid' talks on South China Sea

Philippine Coast Guard personnel survey several ships believed to be Chinese militia vessels in Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea

The Philippines and China held ‘friendly and candid’ talks on the South China Sea, the Philippines' foreign ministry said on Saturday, days after the minister ordered Chinese vessels out of the disputed waterway in an expletive-laced tweet. The presence of hundreds Chinese vessels inside the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been the latest source of tensions between the two countries in the South China Sea, through which $3 trillion worth of goods pass every year. The Philippines said the encroaching vessels were manned by militia, while Beijing said they were fishing boats sheltering from bad weather. ‘The two sides had friendly and candid exchanges on the general situation and specific issues of concern in the South China Sea,’ under a bilateral consultation mechanism convened in 2016 to ease tensions in the strategic waterway, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.