ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFPThe Philippines is eyeing talks with China to discuss a violent clash last week between their sailors in the South China Sea, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday. Chinese coast guard personnel wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a June 17 Filipino navy attempt to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship that sits atop Second Thomas Shoal. A Filipino soldier lost a finger in the clash, with Manila also accusing the Chinese coast guard of looting guns and damaging three boats as well as navigational and communication equipment. Beijing insisted its coast guard behaved in a "professional and restrained" way and blamed Manila for the clash. China deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters around the shoal and has turned several reefs into artificial militarised islands.
