The Philippines has retracted claims that China was preparing to start construction on a contested reef in the South China Sea, in an embarrassing about-turn by Manila.
President Benigno “Noy Noy” Aquino said previous accusations that Chinese ships had brought concrete blocks to the Scarborough Shoal – which China calls Huangyan Island – for construction were wrong. He said the blocks had been there a long time and were “not a new phenomenon”.
“They don’t seem to give us any reason to have an increase in anxiety,” Mr Aquino said on Wednesday.
您已閱讀26%（546字），剩余74%（1589字）包含更多重要信息，訂閱以繼續探索完整內容，并享受更多專屬服務。