RP and China decrease heat

RP and China decrease heat

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines and China have agreed to ease
tension in their dispute over portions of the South China Sea,
Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said here yesterday.

"The report is they agreed to lower the temperature," Siazon
said, after a meeting last week between deputy foreign ministers
of both countries on the conflicting claims to the Spratly
islands and Scarborough shoal claimed by both countries.

Siazon said this would include an agreement by both sides to
inform the other of major ship movements near the disputed areas.

He said relations with China were normal except for the issue
of the disputed territories. Siazon noted that Chinese officials,
including Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing, have been meeting
cordially with Philippine officials even while the dispute raged.