The Philippines has retracted claims that China was preparing to start construction on a contested reef in the South China Sea, in an embarrassing about-turn by Manila.
President Benigno “Noy Noy” Aquino said previous accusations that Chinese ships had brought concrete blocks to the Scarborough Shoal – which China calls Huangyan Island – for construction were wrong. He said the blocks had been there a long time and were “not a new phenomenon”.
“They don’t seem to give us any reason to have an increase in anxiety,” Mr Aquino said on Wednesday.
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