Chinese ships depart disputed Spratly islands

Chinese ships depart disputed Spratly islands

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (AFP): Three of the four Chinese
ships which were seen skirting the disputed Spratly islands have
left the area following an official protest from Manila, a senior
Filipino military official said yesterday.

An unmanned structure built on a reef six nautical miles
northeast of the Filipino-garrisoned island of Panata has also
been "dismantled," Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Reyes told AFP. He did not
say who built the structure or who removed it.

One armed Chinese ship is still in the area, Reyes, the
military chief of the western Philippines, said from his
headquarters in this western city.

Manila lodged a formal protest with Beijing Wednesday,
demanding an explanation for the arrival of the armed vessels
around the Philippine-garrisoned South China Sea islands of Kota
and Panata.

It also sent a contingent of 200 Filipino marines Thursday
night to beef up Philippine garrisons there, military sources
here told AFP yesterday.

The marines, whose mother unit is based in the western city,
arrived in the Spratlys aboard a Philippine navy ship escorted by
one patrol boat, the sources said.

The soldiers were then split into three groups and deployed on
the islands of Kota, Panata and Pag-asa alongside forces already
stationed there.

The Spratly archipelago, which guards vital shipping lanes and
is reputed to be rich in oil and gas, is claimed in whole or in
part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Vietnam.

It was not immediately clear whether the departure of the
ships and the dismantling of the reef structure would end the
standoff, the second between the two countries since Manila
discovered similar but manned structures on Mischief reef in the
Spratlys in 1995.

Earlier yesterday Philippine Defense Secretary Renato de Villa
expressed concern China could be building new structures on the
reef near Panata.

"We do not know their intentions. But it concerns us that
there is a hut-like structure on the shallowest part of this reef
near Panata," de Villa said, without directly accusing the
Chinese of having built the apparently unmanned structure, six
nautical miles northeast of Panata.

"If they have intentions of constructing something similar
there, they could do it during the good weather that is
remaining," he said.

"I am concerned it could become a bigger structure," de Villa
said, adding if there were to be a military confrontation, "we
have all the right to defend ourselves."

Navy ships stationed in the western city of Puerto Princesa
could be easily dispatched to the area, he added.

He described the Chinese ships as belonging to the Ganzhu
class, a Yenli class, a Yannan class, and a fourth vessel having
markings which read: "China Fishing Authority."

One of the ships was first monitored near Panata on April 23,
and a reconnaissance flight spotted a second ship on April 26,
the official said.

A third vessel was spotted the following day, when some
movement was also detected, while the fourth ship was first seen
on April 27.

On April 28 de Villa said the four armed vessels formed a
"crescent-like formation" around Panata from the east.

Their presence there "is a violation of our code of conduct in
terms of entering the area and that they are armed vessels," he
said, referring to a bilateral agreement forged in 1995 after the
Mischief reef standoff.