A combination photo shows two Chinese surveillance ships which sailed between a Philippine warship and eight Chinese fishing boats to prevent the arrest of any fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal, a small group of rocky formations whose sovereignty is contested by the Philippines and China, in the South China Sea, about 124 nautical miles off the main island of Luzon April 10, 2012. REUTERS/Philippine Navy Handout
BEIJING (Reuters) - China accused the Philippines on Thursday of deliberately stirring up trouble over a chain of disputed reefs and rocks in the South China Sea, saying Manila was "creating trouble out of nothing" over an intrinsically Chinese territory.
Friction over the South China Sea, one of the world's most important waterways, has surged as China uses its growing naval might to assert its vast claims over the oil- and gas-rich sea more forcefully, raising fears of a military clash.
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