BEIJING - Two Philippine fishermen, drowning in waters off Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, have been rescued by Chinese coast guard.

At a routine press briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang was asked to comment on a media report that the Philippine coast guard was searching for five Filipinos who failed to return from a fishing trip.
"China has deployed ships in search operations," Geng said.

A media report quoted Philippine coast guard officials as saying that the fishermen left waters off Huangyan Island due to an approaching typhoon last week and have not been heard from since.