MANILA -- Relations between the Philippines and China have teetered on the brink of a new low in recent weeks, with tensions ratcheting up over a series of disputes around the South China Sea.
One was an alleged phone conversation between Chinese and Filipino officials taped by China that made headlines earlier this month. It purportedly claimed to show a Filipino official agreeing with measures to ease tensions, at the cost of concessions by Manila. Before that, China attempted to thwart a Philippine humanitarian mission near the Scarborough Shoal by firing water cannons.
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