MANILA (Reuters) - China's coastguard has rescued Filipino fishermen from a capsized boat near a disputed South China Sea shoal, the Philippines said on Friday, underlining the fast thawing of ties between two countries long at odds over sovereignty.
A Philippine coastguard vessel was navigating choppy waters to collect the two fishermen from the Chinese ship, in what would be the first time in four years both countries' coastguards were in close proximity in the Scarborough Shoal, a rocky outcrop at the heart of years of diplomatic tension.