Philippines says had 'frank, candid' talks with China on South China Sea

Manila: The Philippines reaffirmed its position on Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea even as it agreed with China to explore ways to lower the tension in area, its foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Manila and Beijing held another round of talks under its bilateral consultation mechanism in China on Sept 11, where the two nations also "agreed to continue discussions on areas of cooperation, especially on hotline mechanisms, coast guard cooperation, and marine scientific and technological cooperation," the ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese foreign ministry, in a statement on the talks it issued on Wednesday night, said it

reiterated its demand

for the immediate withdrawal of a Philippine vessel and vowed to "firmly uphold its sovereignty"

The talks, which both sides described as "frank", come at a time of heightened tensions in Sabina Shoal, where both the Philippines and China had accused each other of ramming their vessels last month.

The Philippine coast guard has anchored its Theresa Magbanua vessel since mid-April on suspicion that China was undertaking reclamation activities around the shoal.

The Philippines and China last held "bilateral consultation mechanism" talks in July, where they reached a "provisional arrangement" on Manila's resupply missions to soldiers stationed in a beached naval vessel in Second Thomas shoal

China claims sovereignty over most of the China Sea, overlapping into maritime zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

A 2016 arbitral tribunal award had voided China's expansive and historical claims, a decision Beijing has rejected.