China continues to fortify claims in the South China Sea

China continues to fortify claims in the South China Sea

Jim Gomez, Associated Press, Manila

China has been fortifying its claims in potentially oil-rich
areas of the South China Sea in recent years while placating
other claimant countries with hopeful talk of a peaceful
resolution, a confidential Philippine military report says.

China's activities make the conflicting claims involving five
other nations the "greatest potential flashpoint for conflict in
Southeast Asia," said the report, a copy of which was obtained by
The Associated Press.

In the last four years, China has installed communications
equipment on some of the disputed islands it occupies, organized
a military unit for better surveillance and staged large-scale
military exercises in the contested regions, said the 20-page
report, prepared in March.

While China is cautious in buttressing its presence to avoid
setting off a major confrontation that could undermine its
economic interests, it appears ready to assert its claims by
every means, the report said.

"China's actions are widely viewed as a double-edge diplomatic
strategy aimed at furthering its strategic goals in the region,"
it said.

"Beijing uses negotiating tactics to keep neighboring
governments hopeful of a peaceful compromise while the Chinese
military continues to build up its permanent 'fortresses' in the
Spratly Islands."

Efforts to contact the Chinese Embassy in Manila for comment
were unsuccessful on Tuesday.

The conflicting claims are focused on the Spratlys, a
sprawling, barren archipelago believed to be atop vast undersea
oil and gas deposits. Parts of the Spratlys are claimed by China,
the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The area
straddles one of the world's busiest shipping routes and has many
rich fishing grounds.

Manila and Beijing also are contesting the Scarborough Shoal
in a rich fishing ground off the Philippines' western coast.
China and Vietnam dispute ownership of the Paracel islands
further west.

After fortifying its structures in 1998 in Mischief Reef, a
Spratlys area claimed by the Philippines, China reportedly
installed communication transmission stations on three occupied
reefs, including one claimed by Manila.

The stations could transmit to Chinese navy patrol ships and
contact a military ground command at China's South Sea Fleet
headquarters in Zhangjiang, the report said.

In May 2000, China reportedly established a "South Sea Marine
Surveillance Force" to safeguard its claims and identify marine
and aquatic resources, according to the report. It formerly was
only a division of the China Marine Surveillance Force, organized
in 1998 to patrol inland seas and territorial waters, it said.

"Despite denials from Chinese officials, the creation of a
surveillance force is apparently an offshoot of constant military
activities of the other claimants in the Spratlys," the report
said.

Last year, China reportedly built 20 to 24 100-meter navy
vessels that could be used for patrols while disguised as customs
boats, the report claimed.

China held large-scale military exercises last year from its
southern Hainan island to the Paracels, including amphibious
warfare drills, it said.

Chinese vessels have also been recently frequenting
Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing claims as an ancient possession
but the Philippines says lies in its 320-kilometer exclusive
economic zone, the report said.

In May 2001, two Chinese navy vessels and a survey and
research ship were sighted there with two helicopters hovering
overhead.

The dispute has sparked small clashes. Philippine patrol boats
accidentally sank two Chinese fishing vessels they were chasing
away from the shoal in 1999. The following year, a Philippine
navy ship fired warning shots near two Chinese fishing boats.

Two months later, a Chinese fishing boat's skipper died when
his crew exchanged gunfire with a Philippine coast guard ship.

The claimants have been working on a code of conduct that
would govern movements in the disputed region. Although they have
agreed on the idea, differences remain over areas it would cover.

China's aggressiveness in the South China Sea has clouded its
image and "stirred apprehensions in Southeast Asia" as it asserts
a more dominant economic and political role in Asia, the report
said.

"Much of the worry reflects an underlying, if often unspoken,
fear that (this) assertiveness foreshadows a China that will
become more menacing as (its) power grows."