Reuters
China and the Philippines should manage their differences properly, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday, after the first in-person meeting between senior diplomats from the countries since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Bilateral tensions have risen recently over naval disputes in contested areas of the South China Sea and the increasing U.S. military presence in the Philippines. "Both sides reaffirmed the importance of properly managing differences through friendly consultations, as well as maintaining the general direction of Sino-Philippine friendship," Beijing's ministry said in a statement.