Ramos dismisses threat of war with China

Ramos dismisses threat of war with China

MANILA (Agencies): Philippine President Fidel Ramos dismissed
yesterday reports of a potential war with China over the disputed
Spratlys islands, and reiterated his commitment to a peaceful
resolution of the row.

Ramos made the statement in reaction to news reports quoting a
Hong Kong -based pro-Beijing magazine saying that China may wage
war to protect its claims over the Spratly islands.

"Whatever affiliations this Hong Kong magazine is believed to
have does not represent any kind of official commentary," Ramos
said.

"Our foreign affairs and defense officials have not reported
to me any change in Beijing's tone that might signal to us that
our bilateral dialogue on the subject is no longer positive," he
added.

A diplomatic row between China and the Philippines erupted in
February when Manila accused Beijing of building on a spit of
land on the Spratlys which lies within the Philippines' 200-mile
(370-kilometer) exclusive economic zone.

Manila subsequently arrested 62 Chinese fishermen and
dismantled territorial markers put up by China on nearby reefs
and atolls.

The Spratlys, thought to be rich in oil, are claimed in part
or whole also by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Manila remains "committed to a peaceful resolution of our
problems connected to the South China Sea," he said.

Ramos also announced the visit to China of 78 Philippine
military officials and students of the armed forces' command and
general staff college, in the first week of May.

The visit was organized with China's Ministry of National
Defense, he said.

"This fact alone shows that we have not come to a crisis point
in our relations with China whom we still regard as an important
and friendly neighbor," he said.

In Singapore, an influential U.S. congressman was quoted as
saying in Singapore's Straits Times newspaper yesterday that sea
lanes in the disputed Spratly Islands area must be kept free for
international use,

The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
National Security, Floyd Spence, said the U.S. congress was
keenly interested in developments in the six-nation dispute over
the chain of islands in the South China Sea.

"That area controls a lot of the commerce that goes through
the world. We take the position that those sea lanes have to be
kept free for international use," he said.

"And we wouldn't look too kindly on anyone doing anything that
might jeopardize that," Spence, a Republican from South Carolina,
was quoted as saying.

Asked why the United States has kept a low profile on the
Spratly issue, Spence said: "Our position has been one of
offering to mediate the problem... (and)... to prevent the issue
from blowing up into something more large scale.

"But whatever the reason for the situation being as it is, we
would not permit anyone to do anything that would hamper the free
flow of trade and the use of the sea lanes in the area."

Spence was in Singapore with a delegation from his committee,
formerly called the House Armed Services Committee, as part of an
Asian fact-finding tour.