The Philippines and China traded fresh accusations
Tuesday of illegal incursions in a disputed area of the South China Sea,
while refusing to compromise on their territorial claims.
The Philippines said it had lodged a new diplomatic protest, accusing
Chinese vessels of harassing a Filipino-flagged archaeological research
ship at Scarborough Shoal.
The shoal is the same area where Chinese vessels last week blocked a
Filipino warship from arresting the crews of eight Chinese fishing
boats.
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the M/Y
Saranggani was "harassed by Chinese ships and aircraft" at Scarborough,
which is about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines' main
island of Luzon.
"We lodged the protest yesterday afternoon. The harassment of the
vessel is part of the continued intrusion and illegal activities being
done by China in our area," Hernandez told AFP.
Philippine National Museum director Jeremy Barns said the vessel was
conducting a preliminary survey of potential ancient shipwrecks, and was
manned by Filipino and French scientists, including nine French
archaeologists.
"We're looking for the wrecks of Western as well as Asian vessels --
Vietnamese, Thai, and also Chinese. This is a project of the National
Museum," Barns told AFP.
He described the area around the shoal as an important maritime
passageway for foreign vessels that conducted trade with the Philippine
islands, possibly even prior to their colonisation by Spain in the 16th
Century.
Filipino officials would not say when the scientific vessel
specifically arrived in the area, but Hernandez said the boat was still
there.
"It is doing research, which is well within our rights," he said.
But the spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Manila, Zhang Hua,
insisted China owned Scarborough, and accused the M/Y Saranggani of
intrusion.
"We urge the archaeological vessel leave the area immediately," Chang said in a statement.
China claims all of the South China Sea as its own on historical
grounds, even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other
Southeast Asian countries.
The nearest Chinese land mass from Scarborough Shoal is Hainan
province, 1,200 kilometres, (750 miles) to the northwest, according to
Philippine naval maps given to the media.
The rival claims have been a source of regional tensions for decades,
and the Philippines as well as Vietnam have accused China over the past
year of becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting its position.
The latest flare-up occurred on April 8 when the Philippines found
the eight Chinese fishing boats at Scarborough Shoal, and sent its
warship to arrest the crew.
China quickly deployed three civilian maritime vessels that took turns in blocking the warship.
In a bid to calm the situation, the Philippines pulled back its
warship and replaced it with a coast guard vessel late last week, and
the fishing vessels sailed away over the weekend.
Hernandez said a lone Philippine coast guard boat now remained in the
area on Tuesday, facing off against two Chinese civilian ships.
"As of now, we are still in a stalemate or a stand off," Hernandez said.
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Jason Gutierrez | AFP News/Yahoo News Online | April 17, 2012 | Article Link
