MANILA, Philippines - Philippine authorities are not discounting the
possibility that the continued Chinese presence at the Panatag Shoal
could be a prelude to putting up markers or structures to boost China’s
claim over the area, sources in the military said Thursday.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because a gag order has
been in effect on defense and military officials, who are barred from
providing media with updates on the standoff that began April 10 in the
shoal standoff.
“We will wake up one day and see markers or small structures already
planted inside or outside the lagoon to boost their claim of the
maritime area. That’s why we’re closely monitoring their activities.
We’ve two ships there but they might not detect all the time the
activities of the Chinese especially during night,” a ranking military
official said.
As of Wednesday morning, there were seven Chinese maritime
surveillance vessels and eight fishing vessels in the shoal. “The
seven vessels are merchant ships, the FLEC and CMS that we’re earlier
reporting. This plus the fishing vessels, China has a total of 15
vessels at the shoal at present,” another official said. China has
sent up to 90 vessels to the shoal in the past weeks.
For its part, the Philippines has deployed only two vessels, one from
the Coast Guard and one from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources (BFAR).
The standoff started on April 10 when the BRP Gregorio del Pilar was
blocked by two Chinese maritime surveillance vessels to prevent it from
arresting Chinese fishermen on board 8 fishing vessels who illegally
harvested giant clams, corals and different kinds of endangered marine
resources in the area.
Since then, China sent more vessels on rotation basis to boost its
claim over the shoal which is well within the 200-nautical-mile
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. China, however, calls
the area Huangyan Island, which is more than 800 nautical miles from its
nearest shore.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is expected to give more
details about his bilateral meeting with China Defense Minister Liang
Guanglie in Cambodia.
Earlier, Gazmin said China is open to dialogue to defuse the tension at the Panatag Shoal.
Panatag now, Recto Bank next?
Meanwhile, a Navy official said China is using Panatag as a test case
for its bigger claims in the whole stretch of South China Sea. “If
they will be successful at Panatag, then they have all the reasons to
claim Recto (Reed) Bank which is their main target.
The reef’s underground has lots of oil,” he said. The reef is part
of the disputed Spratly Islands, which also includes the 7 islets and
two reefs found inside the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) municipality of
Palawan located in the West Philippine Sea.
Besides the Philippines and China, other claimant nations are Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
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| May 31, 2012 | Article Link
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