China has denied reports that its coast guard forcibly took from the Philippine Navy an unidentified object off the Pag-asa Island.
In a statement on Monday night, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said China’s coast guard took the object, which turned out to be the wreckage of a rocket launched by China, after a "friendly consultation" with the Philippine side.
It then alleged that "relevant reports," which actually came from the country’s Armed Forces, "are inconsistent with facts."
Quoting Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the embassy said what actually happened was that it was the Chinese personnel that saw the wreckage floating "in the waters off Nansha Islands" at around 8 a.m. of Sunday.
It said that before the Chinese coast guard eventually found it, "some Philippine Navy personnel already retrieved and towed it."
"After friendly consultation, the Philippine side returned the floating object to the Chinese side on the spot. The Chinese side expressed gratitude to the Philippine side," it said.
The embassy maintained "there was no so-called blocking of the course of a Philippine Navy boat" as well as the forceful retrieval of the object.
This was contrary to the report of the Philippine Navy to the National Task Force on West Philippine Sea, which said that China's coast guard with Bow Number 5203 approached "and subsequently blocked their pre-plotted course twice."
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it will wait for a thorough review of the incident prior to making further comments.