Chinese ships in Spratlys were military: RP
Chinese ships in Spratlys were military: RP
MANILA (Agencies): Philippine Defense Secretary Renato De Villa insisted yesterday that three Chinese ships sighted near Philippine-occupied islands in the disputed Spratlys were military vessels.
De Villa also said the Philippine military was continuing surveillance flights over the Spratly Islands, some 850 kilometers west of Manila, but would not confirm reports that fighter jets were carrying out these flights.
De Villa said the three ships sighted were "LST-type" cargo ships, with deck guns and some of them with helipads for helicopter landings.
The military reported Tuesday that three armed "frigate-type" Chinese vessels were spotted by air force reconnaissance aircraft last Friday off Philippine-garrisoned Kota and Panata islands in the Spratly Islands.
The authoritative Jane's Fighting Ships journal identified the vessels as research and survey ships and not frigates.
Philippine President Fidel Ramos said military officials "have made their due diligence and research and they have come up with their conclusions that these are naval ships".
The Philippine foreign department summoned Beijing's ambassador to Manila to complain about the incident, the second such stand-off between the two countries over the Spratlys in two years.
China's ambassador to the Philippines said yesterday Beijing had assured Manila that it would abide by earlier agreements to peacefully resolve rival claims to the Spratly Islands
"China has no intention to create any tension in the disputed area," Ambassador Guan Deng Ming said.
Military officials said the armed forces had beefed up its presence in the Spratlys with the deployment of a marine contingent of more than 200 soldiers.
The officials also said the Philippine air force had sent its few remaining F-5 fighter jets to the Spratlys to conduct regular sorties over Manila-claimed areas in the South China Sea.
In February 1995, Philippine planes spotted Chinese ships and structures in a nearby area. The dispute worsened when Filipino troops destroyed Chinese territorial markers and later arrested 62 Chinese fishermen for operating illegally in Philippine waters.
Any further escalation of tensions was supposed to be averted by a code of conduct and other agreements under which Manila and Beijing pledged to avoid any actions that might trigger military conflict.
Visits by Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Defense Minister Chi Haotian over the past year seemed to further strengthen efforts to maintain cordial relations between the two countries as they reiterated their commitments to avoid conflict in the Spratlys.
China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam and Taiwan all claim at least part of the Spratlys, which straddle key shipping lanes and are believed to be rich in oil and minerals as well as marine resources.