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.