Philippines Rejects China's Call to Jointly Probe Sea Collision

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines rejected China’s suggestion to jointly probe the June 9 collision in the South China Sea involving the two nations’ boats.

“There will be no joint investigation. China and the Philippines will conduct their respective investigations,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said Friday on his official Twitter account.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang, at a briefing Thursday, proposed a joint probe of a Chinese vessel’s collision with a Philippine boat near Reed Bank, which left 22 Filipino fishermen floating at sea and rescued later by a Vietnamese crew.

The two countries “can exchange respective findings and properly handle the matter through friendly consultations” by jointly investigating the incident, the Chinese official said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net

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