BEIJING — China reacted angrily Wednesday to the warning shots fired by the South Korean navy at a Chinese patrol boat near the maritime border with North Korea the previous day.
"China has expressed its concern about the situation," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
The South Korean military said it fired the shots after the Chinese boat sailed two kilometers into its territory from the North Korean side on Tuesday, despite six radio warnings, Yonhap News Agency said.
Beijing's state-run Global Times on Wednesday called the action "very imprudent behavior."
North Korea does not recognize the Northern Limit Line which split the East China or Yellow Sea, to the west of the peninsula, between the North and South at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
China is the only major international ally of the isolated, communist North Korean regime.
Hua said the authorities in Beijing "have not yet received any impact reported from Chinese ships or affected personnel."
Chinese diplomats were following up the incident with Seoul, she said.
Story: DPA
