This is the best summary I could come up with:

BANGKOK (AP) — China and the Philippines said they have agreed to work on lowering tensions after a year of public and tense confrontations in the South China Sea between their ships that have raised concerns of armed engagement in the region.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that the two sides agreed to continue to improve communication and use friendly negotiations to manage their differences at sea, “especially to manage well the situation at Ren’Ai reef.”

“The two sides had frank and productive discussions to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and both sides agreed to calmly deal with incidents, if any, through diplomacy,” the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Wednesday.

The territorial disputes in the South China Sea are widely seen as a potential flashpoint for armed conflict.

China is angry after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. congratulated the winner of Taiwan’s recent presidential election on Monday.

China objects to any official engagement with Taiwan’s government, viewing it as an acknowledgement of sovereignty.

The original article contains 339 words, the summary contains 172 words. Saved 49%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!