China working on reef: Manila

Tue, 10 Nov 1998, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

MANILA (AP): More than 100 Chinese workers are building large
concrete barracks and possibly a pier on a disputed South China
Sea reef, Philippine defense secretary Orlando Mercado said on
Monday.

He called the Chinese buildup on Mischief Reef a "creeping
invasion" of Philippine territorial waters and said Manila was
considering filing a complaint at the United Nations.

The reef, which the Philippines calls Panganiban, is located
in the disputed Spratly Islands.

In a closed-door briefing for Philippine senators on the
Chinese actions, Mercado said he showed photographs taken from
air force reconnaissance planes revealing new concrete structures
in what had been a cluster of small huts on stilts in the reef.

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