China urges Philippines to ‘act with caution’ amid South China Sea dispute

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Manila to “act with caution” over the hotly-contested South China Sea as his Philippines counterpart Enrique Manalo noted the need for dialogue between the two countries.

Tension between Beijing and Manila over the waterway has risen in recent months, particularly in the Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal where Manila has accused the Chinese Coast Guard of dangerous actions against Filipino boats during regular resupply missions to sailors on the Sierra Madre, which was grounded there in 1999.

Manila has lodged dozens of diplomatic protests over China’s behaviour and earlier this month, summoned the Chinese ambassador after a collision between Chinese and Filipino vessels.

Wang and Manalo spoke by phone on Wednesday with China’s Foreign Ministry releasing a five-paragraph readout of the discussions – noting that Manalo had talked about Manila’s views on Second Thomas Shoal – but alleged that any spike in tensions was Manila’s fault.

“The root cause is that the Philippines has changed its policy stance so far, reneged on its commitments, continued to provoke and cause trouble at sea, and undermined China’s legitimate and legitimate rights,” the statement said. “China-Philippines relations are at a crossroads. Faced with the choice of where to go, the Philippines must act with caution.”

Second Thomas Shoal lies about 195km (121 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000km (621 miles) from China’s southern Hainan island.

Beijing seized Scarborough Shoal from Manila after a months-long standoff in 2012. The shoal lies about 220km (137 miles) off the coast of the Philippines and falls within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to international maritime law.

In a brief statement, Manalo described the call with Wang as a “frank and candid exchange”.

“We ended our call with a clearer understanding of our respective positions on a number of issues,” he said in the statement. “We both noted the importance of dialogue in addressing these issues.”