Singapore urges peaceful solution

Singapore urges peaceful solution

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore Defense Minister Tony Tan has
urged rival claimants to the Spratly islands to resolve the
dispute peacefully and prevent disruption of the region's booming
economies.

"If claimant countries do not resolve their territorial
problems peacefully, these overlapping territorial claims may
result in conflict at sea and could also result in obstruction to
freedom of navigation," Tan said in a speech on Saturday.

He was speaking at the commissioning of three new Singapore
navy ships. His speech was reported in the Straits Times
newspaper yesterday.

China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines
claim part or all of the Spratlys, a potentially oil-rich cluster
of isolated reefs in the South China sea. Security experts have
warned it may become the next flashpoint in the region.

Freedom of navigation and access to sea lanes in the region
were critical to Singapore's continued prosperity, especially
since more than 85 percent of its trade was by sea, Tan said.