Philippines must hand boats back to China, says FM

BEIJING - China on Thursday demanded the Philippines return Chinese boats promptly and unconditionally after a Philippine warship confronted a Chinese fishing boat.

"China has presented its stance to the Philippines. We demand that the Philippines return the small Chinese boats unconditionally and as soon as possible, and properly handle related issues," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a daily news conference.

On Tuesday, a Philippine military vessel entered the sea area neighboring Liyue Tan, also known as the Reed Bank, of the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea and tried to approach a Chinese fishing boat towing 25 smaller, unoccupied boats, Jiang said.