Rift in Philippine government over secret China talks in shoal row

A politician once jailed for plotting a military coup has held secret talks with China over a territorial row - a tactic that appears to have backfired amid bitter infighting.

A spokesman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Senator Antonio Trillanes had been authorised to hold back-channel talks with Beijing to settle a row over competing claims to the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, known in China as Huangyan Island.

But the appointment caused a deep rift with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, who had been officially in charge of talks with China and was excluded from the unofficial ones.

Trillanes claimed he had been responsible for easing tensions with China after the dispute erupted in April, and accused del Rosario of "treason" because of his allegedly aggressive tactics. "Right now there is no more crisis involving Scarborough, but we were nearly brought to war. That was a treasonous act [by del Rosario]," Trillanes said, repeating a claim he made on radio and to politicians.

He said public statements made by del Rosario accusing China of bullying the Philippines nearly led to open confrontation. Trillanes said he had met "top Chinese officials" at least 15 times in Manila and in Beijing since May.

In a televised interview on Monday, del Rosario said back-channel talks "were doing more harm than good", although he did not name Trillanes.