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Kamala Harris inspects an honor guard in Manila
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Aaron Favila/AP
According to the Philippine military, the Chinese coast guard has blocked a naval vessel in the country.
The team was recovering unidentified metal debris near an island claimed by the Philippines on Sunday when the Chinese Coast Guard intervened and took the metal object, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, a regional military commander, said Monday .
The Chinese cut the tow line attached to the Philippine ship.
No one was injured in the incident, it said.
It happened about 700 meters off the coast of Pag-asa Island, part of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The incident happened just before US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in the Philippines.
On Tuesday she wants to visit Puerto Princesa in the western island province of Palawan, which includes the island of Pag-asa.
Observers believe the visit could fuel tensions with China.
Relations between the two world powers are at a low point.
China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden at the G20 summit in Bali last week.
Xi and Harris met briefly at the Apec summit in Thailand over the weekend.
China claims all of the strategically important Spratly Islands, while Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines each claim part of the islands.
There are military garrisons on many of the otherwise uninhabited islands.
Read here why the situation in the South China Sea is so delicate and why there are always serious incidents between the Chinese and western military: Island or rocks?
What the dispute in the South China Sea is about.