Manila sends gunboats to shoal

Mon, 27 Mar 2000 | Source: AFP

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine navy has deployed two gunships to convince eight Chinese fishing vessels still moored near a disputed outcrop in the South China Sea to leave the area, an official said on Sunday.

Navy chief Vice Adm. Luisito Fernandez said an interpreter went with the ships to help "persuade" the Chinese vessels to leave Scarborough Shoal.

The Chinese vessels dropped anchor off the rocky outcrop on March 8 and were allowed to stay there to avoid "turbulent weather conditions" in the area, the navy said.

Scarborough Shoal lies just west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, and is within the country's 200-mile exclusive economic zone as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of

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