China won't turn a blind eye to Philippines provocations


China "won't turn a blind eye" towards the Philippines' repeated provocations and harassment in the South China Sea, although the nation is always committed to resolving differences through dialogue, a defense spokesman said on Thursday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian made the comments in a news conference in Beijing, refuting the groundless accusation by the Philippine side regarding China's Ren'ai Reef in the South China Sea.
Recently, multiple Philippine officials have said that the Chinese Coast Guard used water cannons to attack Philippine ships near the Ren'ai Reef and rammed them, triggering regional tensions.
In addition, the Philippine side has accused China of using a "Long-range Acoustic Device" and laser weapon to attack Philippine crew members.
Wu said those are purely false hype.
The Philippine side, in disregard of repeated warnings from the Chinese side, insisted on sending a vessel to intrude into the adjacent waters of China's Ren'ai Reef, and provocatively rammed a China Coast Guard vessel and caused a scratch, he said.
"Such behavior is very dangerous and extremely unprofessional," Wu said, noting that the China Coast Guard took necessary enforcement measures under law, which were completely justified and legitimate.
The spokesman pointed out that although the Philippine side claimed to conduct humanitarian supplies near the Ren'ai Reef, those Philippine supply vessels actually carried many journalists which he said propagated plenty of disinformation.
"In my view, this is not humanitarian supply at all, but to deliberately playact in the name of humanitarian supply," said the defense official.
He refuted that the usage of so-called sonic or laser weapons is an entirely groundless accusation, stressing that China has no intention or necessity to use such devices.
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