Beijing, Feb 26 (PTI) Amid dispute with Vietnam over sovereignty of some islands in South China sea, Beijing today denied that its maritime patrol ships fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat.

The China Marine Surveillance (CMS) recently carried out a routine patrol in the waters around the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, over which China claims indisputable sovereignty, according to a statement of CMS under the State Oceanic Administration.

However, China denied that its maritime patrol ships fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat, saying that the media reports in this regard were untrue.

The CMS ships did not have any clash with any Vietnamese boats, not to mention a so-called shooting incident, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official statement as saying.

It denied reports in the Japanese media that a Vietnamese fishing boat was shot and damaged by some CMS ships around the Xisha Islands.

(news.in.msn)