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.