The war of words between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea escalates again as Rodrigo Duterte's Foreign Minister tells Beijing where to go.
Tensions between Beijing and Manila over the South China Sea have risen another notch after the Philippines' Foreign Secretary published an obscene tweet to order Chinese ships to leave the disputed waters.The Philippine Foreign Ministry has accused China of following and hindering Philippine coast guard vessels
The Foreign Secretary's expletive-riddled language is the latest in an escalating row between the nations over the continued incursion of Chinese coastguard ships and fishing boats into resource-rich waters inside the Philippines' 322-kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone . At one point, at least 220 Chinese vessels had massed around the Whitsun Reef in the Spratly Islands, where in recent years Beijing has built military installations on a string of reefs and semi-submerged islands.
"China itself has been using increasingly tough language in its own tweets and press conferences from the Foreign Ministry. I think this reflects the kind of rising anger of tone that various diplomats are using around the region," he said.China's embassy in Manila has not immediately responded to the comments. But Beijing has ignored repeated demands to remove its vessels and accused Manila of escalating the dispute, though many of the vessels have since gone.
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