Filipino sailors saw the wreck and set out in a boat to retrieve it. While withdrawing to the island, a Chinese coast guard vessel allegedly blocked their way twice before returning the inflatable boat with two people on board. Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos told reporters on Monday that Chinese Coast Guard officials seized the wreckage by cutting a towline attached to the wreck.
However, China denies the allegations. “The Philippines was the first to rescue and pull the facility,” Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told AP. After friendly on-site consultations, the Philippine side returned the facility to China, and China expressed its gratitude for that.”
The South China Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean and is a disputed waterway between China and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei.
Source: Ferra
