Philippines wants China to explain 'benign' account of rocket debris seizure

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (pic) said Tuesday (Nov 22) the country will ask Beijing to explain its "more benign" account of an incident involving Chinese coastguards taking rocket debris from Filipino soldiers in disputed waters.

A senior Filipino navy official on Monday accused the Chinese coastguard of "forcefully" seizing parts of a rocket fairing that landed in the waters of the Spratly Islands in the hotly contested South China Sea.

Beijing insisted the handover took place after "friendly consultation".

"The report of the Philippine navy and the report from China did not match," Marcos told reporters.

"I have complete trust in our navy and if this is what they say happened, I can only believe that that is what happened."

Marcos said Manila would send a diplomatic note to Beijing asking "why is it that their account is so different and it's much more benign".

The South China Sea is a longstanding source of tensions between the two nations.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of it.

Marcos's remarks came as US Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up a visit to a Philippine island near the disputed sea in a show of support for the longtime US ally.

Harris said the United States "stands with the Philippines in the face of intimidation and coercion in the South China Sea."

Marcos has insisted he will not let China trample on the Philippines' maritime rights -- in contrast to his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte who was reluctant to criticise the superpower.

In Sunday's incident, a Chinese coastguard vessel "blocked" a Filipino rubber boat towing an "unidentified floating object", Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said Monday.

The Chinese coastguard vessel then deployed an inflatable boat team which "forcefully retrieved said floating object by cutting the towing line attached to the (Filipino) rubber boat", he said.

The object was then taken to the Chinese coastguard vessel as the Filipino troops returned to their station, Carlos said.

Philippine National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos said Tuesday the Filipino sailors "heard shots" apparently fired from an unknown location as they towed the object to the Philippine-garrisoned Thitu island.

"With the way that the region, our region the Asia Pacific, is heating up, there might be a small mistake, a misunderstanding that could blow up," Marcos warned.

He said his planned visit to China in January could be an opportunity to find a way to avoid further incidents.

"We want to have a mechanism, we have to find a way to prevent this from happening again," he said.