Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian Photo: VCG

In response to a question concerning the Philippine military's claim on Thursday of an "incident" involving the Chinese navy at Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea, where the Philippine side claimed Chinese warship conducted "high-risk maneuvers", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday that Huangyan Dao is China's inherent territory. Philippine warship attempted to intrude into Huangyan Dao, and Chinese side took necessary measures which were justified, lawful, professional, and restrained.

The related remarks by the Philippine side disregard the facts and confuse right and wrong, Lin said.

The root cause of the current tensions lies in the Philippines' repeated infringements and provocations at sea. Chinese side urges the Philippines to immediately cease its infringing and provocative actions and not to challenge China's firm resolve to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, Lin said. 

A Philippine Navy patrol near the Huangyan Dao encountered "aggressive and unsafe" movements by two Chinese Navy vessels earlier this week, the Philippine military said, Reuters reported.

The May 5 encounter took place "approximately 11.8 nautical miles south-east" of the Huangyan Dao, the military said, according to The Straits Times.

Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, said on Thursday that on Monday, the Philippine Corvette 35 attempted to intrude into the territorial waters of China's Huangyan Dao. The PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to lawfully track, monitor, issue warnings, and expel the vessel, effectively preventing the Philippine vessel from entering China's territorial waters.

A map released by the PLA Southern Theater Command showed that the closest distance between the Philippine corvette and the territorial sea baseline of China's Huangyan Dao was 12.4 nautical miles, at 5:31 pm on Monday.

Global Times