Spratly row will not mar RP-China ties, envoy says
Spratly row will not mar RP-China ties, envoy says
BEIJING (Reuter): Manila's dispute with China over the Spratly
islands will take time to resolve but should not damage
relations, Philippine Ambassador Romualdo Ong said yesterday.
"This is a complex question and cannot be resolved in quick
time," Ong told a news conference in Beijing.
"Both sides...agreed that problems of this nature should not
disrupt the longstanding and good, friendly relations."
Ong was speaking after talks this week in Beijing between
Foreign Ministry officials to try to defuse tension after Manila
charged China with widening its occupation of areas of the
disputed South China Sea archipelago.
Last month, Manila accused Beijing of building what it said
looked like a naval support installation over Mischief Reef in
the Kalayaan Group in the Spratlys, which it says are part of
Philippine territory.
The Philippines and China failed to reach agreement during
three days of talks but pledged to meet again at a time and place
yet to be decided.
Ong described the atmosphere at the talks as "frank but
cordial" and said the negotiations had offered an opportunity for
both sides to lay out fully their positions.
In Manila, armed forces chief Gen. Arturo Enrile said on
Thursday the Philippines had blown up maritime markers set up by
China near the disputed reefs.
"We have destroyed some of them. We demolished by explosives,"
he told reporters.
There was no immediate Chinese comment on the action.
During the talks, China repeated that the facilities were
built by local Chinese authorities as a shelter for fishermen,
Ong said.
The Spratlys are a potentially oil-rich cluster of isles,
reefs and atolls claimed wholly or in part by China, the
Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
Asked to describe current relations, Ong said they were "good,
stable".
"There are occasional humps in the relationship," he said.
"But on the whole they remain good and both sides are
determined...to tackle our problem between us through peaceful
negotiations."
The Philippines was convinced stable relations served larger
interests, Ong said, adding that this would strengthen stability
in the Asia-Pacific region.
He said Manila welcomed the U.S. position that it opposed the
use of force by claimants to the region.
"We regard that as a helpful statement," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the European Union Commission
yesterday endorsed an agreement forged in Manila by the ASEAN
nations calling for a peaceful solution to the dispute over a
string of islands on the South China Sea.
The Spratlys, a potentially oil-rich cluster of isles, reefs
and atolls, is seen as a flashpoint in the region.
"We believe a peaceful and negotiated solution is the only way
to progress," EU Vice-President Manuel Marin told a news
conference.
"The first and only solution is to respect the Manila
Agreement," Marin said, referring to a declaration by the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila in 1992
calling for a peaceful solution to the dispute.
Marin said he reiterated the Union's stand to Philippine
Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo during talks yesterday.
"Of course, he was very happy at the reaction of the European
Union," he said.