Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sea confrontations

The Philippines has summoned China's envoy, the foreign ministry said Monday, following the most tense confrontations between the countries' vessels in years at flashpoint reefs in the South China Sea.

Report informs via foreign media that there was also a collision between Philippine and Chinese boats at Second Thomas Shoal, with both countries trading blame for the incident.

Diplomatic protests had been filed and "the Chinese ambassador has also been summoned", foreign ministry spokeswoman Teresita Daza told a news conference on Monday.

Daza said declaring China's ambassador Huang Xilian as "persona non grata" in the Philippines was also "something that has to be seriously considered".