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.