Manila sends gunboats to shoal

Manila sends gunboats to shoal

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