China summons RP official

China summons RP official

MANILA (AFP): China's foreign ministry has summoned a Philippine embassy official in Beijing to protest the boarding of four Chinese fishing vessels by the Philippine navy, officials said here on Thursday.

Acting foreign secretary Lauro Baja said deputy mission chief Elizabeth Buensuceso was called last week and the protest was relayed to her verbally.

The Chinese also demanded that military patrol boats and planes leave the Scarborough Shoal, a disputed outcrop claimed by both countries where the incident took place last month.

Philippine naval officers boarded the four Chinese boats last week after they refused to leave the Scarborough Shoal where they were first seen on Jan. 15.

The military confiscated sea turtles, a protected species that the Chinese had reportedly illegally gathered. However, they allowed the Chinese vessels to leave without any arrests.