‘Just a collision’: Duterte downplays sinking

The sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel in the disputed South China Sea was “just a collision”, the Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte said as he moved to soothe anger over the crash.

The typically brash Duterte urged calm in his first public comments about the June 9 incident, which has fed into outrage over China’s expansive claims to the resource-rich waterway. Critics have voiced anger over the Chinese trawler’s failure to rescue the 22 Filipino fishermen after what some Philippine officials have called a “hit-and-run” incident.

“Do not believe those stupid politicians. They want to send the Navy,” Duterte said. “That is just a collision of boats. Do not make it worse,” Duterte added as he addressed the Philippine Navy, reiterating the country was not ready to go to war against China. Duterte has largely set aside the Philippines’ row with Beijing over the key waterway to court trade and investments, but he has occasionally criticised China’s actions there.