Manila pushes for Spratlys talks

Manila pushes for Spratlys talks

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines said on Wednesday it would continue pressing for regional talks which include China over the disputed Spratly islands despite a protest by Malaysia.

Malaysia said on Wednesday it would not back a Philippine bid to open talks on the Spratlys during the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings this week in Singapore, saying it was not the right forum.

But Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon told reporters he would raise the issue with his regional counterparts at the ASEAN meetings.

"That is their (the Malaysians') view. You have to respect their view. We can always talk about it when I get there," Siazon said before leaving for Singapore for the ASEAN meetings, which officially begin on Friday.

Malaysia and the Philippines are among six countries which are claiming the Spratly islands wholly or in part. The others are Vietnam and Brunei -- who are also ASEAN members -- and non- member China and Taiwan.

The Spratlys are a cluster of potentially oil rich isles, reefs and atolls in the South China Sea.

Tensions between Manila and Beijing flared this week after a Philippine Navy ship sank a Chinese fishing boat in what Manila said was an accidental collision near a Philippine-held isle.

China said its boat was rammed by the Philippine vessel. The boat's 11 crew survived.

Manila has drafted a code of conduct that would govern the actions of the six claimant nations to help prevent accidental conflicts in the Spratlys, and wants ASEAN to endorse it.

Malaysia's objections to such discussions scuppered such a plan, diplomatic sources in Singapore said on Tuesday.

"Among the ASEAN members, it is really just Malaysia now that has some second thoughts" about a code of conduct, Siazon said.

ASEAN also includes Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia.

Although China is not a member of ASEAN, Siazon said its participation in any Spratlys arrangement was important "because it is the biggest country."

The Philippines has been particularly upset by China's occupation of a reef in the Spratlys which Manila claims and its construction of what Manila says is a potential military garrison. China says the facilities are shelters for fishermen.