China protests to Philippine ambassador after disputed shoal clash

China's foreign ministry said Tuesday it had urgently summoned the Philippine ambassador to protest what it called a deliberate provocation and attack by the Philippines at Ren'ai Reef, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, after a clash in disputed South China Sea waters.

The Philippine military accused the China Coast Guard of hitting a Filipino sailor with a baton on Monday as Philippine personnel approached a grounded vessel that has long served as a Philippine garrison. China's foreign ministry said the Philippine side provoked first and accused Manila of reversing blame, distorting facts and drawing attention to the issue.

The clash drew criticism from Philippine allies. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned what she called destabilising and dangerous conduct by China, after Washington condemned Beijing's dangerous and aggressive actions.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an important global trade route, despite an international ruling that found its claims have no legal basis. Several countries in the region, including the Philippines, have overlapping territorial claims, and confrontations regularly occur in the heavily patrolled waterway.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Manila on Tuesday for a summit of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Rubio has said he is open to meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also due to attend the summit, but such talks have not been publicly confirmed. Rubio and Wang met last year on the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering in Kuala Lumpur and again in Munich in February.

In an opinion article published in Philippine media on Tuesday, Rubio said Washington remained committed to freedom of navigation in Southeast Asia and reaffirmed the US defensive umbrella in the region. He wrote that if the waters came under the control of a power willing to use trade as a geopolitical weapon, both the United States and ASEAN states would face serious new threats to their sovereignty, security and economic future.