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China rejects US accusations of provoking the Philippines in maritime dispute

Washington supports the Philippines over its dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea

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US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf. Photo: Xinhua

The United States has criticised Beijing for being provocative after a Chinese coastguard tried to block a Philippine vessel on Saturday that was rotating troops on a islet among the Spratlys archipelago in the tense South China Sea.

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In response Chinese state media on Tuesday accused the Philippines of violating morality and international law by seeking United Nations arbitration in the dispute.

The attempted Chinese blockade, which led to a two-hour stand-off with the Philippine ship, is “a provocative and destabilising action,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

Harf said that the Philippines had permission to resupply troops to the remote reef, the Second Thomas Shoal, because it has kept a naval presence there since before a 2002 declaration of conduct in the South China Sea.

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“As a treaty ally of the Republic of the Philippines, the United States urges China to refrain from further provocative behaviour by allowing the Philippines to continue to maintain its presence at Second Thomas Shoal,” she said.

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