Manila alerts its forces near Spratlys

Manila alerts its forces near Spratlys

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines said on Wednesday it had
placed its forces near a Chinese-occupied reef in the South China
Sea on alert but told them to avoid a military confrontation.

Manila also said that Philippine President Joseph Estrada
would raise the issue of China's alleged build-up of facilities
on Mischief Reef, part of the disputed Spratly Islands, when he
meets Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Kuala Lumpur next week.

"I don't want to call it a worse scenario because that means
war, and we don't want war," armed forces chief General Joselin
Nazareno told reporters, referring to his order placing navy and
air force units stationed near the Spratly Islands on alert.

The Philippines last week accused China of raising the stakes
in the Spratlys by building what Manila said were potential piers
capable of taking in big ships on Mischief Reef.

Believed to be sitting on oil and gas deposits, the Spratlys
are claimed wholly or in part by China, the Philippines, Taiwan,
Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Manila insists the reef, about 185 nautical miles of
southwestern Puerto Princesa city, is within its territory.

Beijing says it has owned all of the South China Sea since
ancient times and ejected Manila's demand to dismantle the
facilities which it says are only shelters for fishermen.

"We gave notice that this (the Mischief Reef row) will be an
item for discussions between President Jiang and President
Estrada," Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said, after summoning
Chinese ambassador Guan Deng Ming for the second time in six
days.

Jiang and Estrada are to meet on Nov. 17 on the sidelines of
the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the
Malaysian capital, Siazon said.

Guan denied Philippine accusations of "a creeping invasion" of
the Spratlys by Beijing and said China was not bullying its
weaker neighbor.

"There is no such creeping incident...There is no such thing
(as) one side bullying another side," Guan said. He said the
Chinese facilities were "not against any country, particularly
not the Philippines".

The Philippines has a 115,000-strong army, compared to the
more than 2.5 million People's Liberation Army troops, and a
naval fleet whose ships are an average of 40 years old. Its air
force is mainly equipped with Vietnam War-vintage fighter jets.

Despite Estrada's order to heighten air and naval patrols
around the disputed reef, Nazareno made it clear his troops near
the Spratlys were not looking for a fight.

Reacting to Beijing's protests on Tuesday that Philippine
planes flying daily reconnaissance over the reef were sweeping
down too low, Nazareno ordered the air force to fly not lower
than 1,550 metres.

He also told the navy to stay five nautical miles away from
the Chinese position "to reduce risks of direct confrontation".

Asked what the Filipinos would do if fired upon by Chinese
navy ships, which Manila said had taken up positions on the reef,
Nazareno said:

"I have ordered the navy to purchase additional flags so all
vessels deployed in the area for patrol will display the
Philippine flag to show that we are patrolling our territory."