MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said yesterday he would send ships back to a disputed shoal once stormy weather clears, if ships from China have not left the area by then.
Government ships from the two countries have squared off for more than two months at the Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground off the northwestern Philippines claimed by both countries.
The Philippines announced over the weekend it would withdraw its remaining two ships because of bad weather endangering Filipino crewmen, and China later said it would pull out its fishing boats for safety — sparking hopes of an end to the standoff.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa welcomed the actions by China and the Philippines, saying Wednesday that his country has called on both sides “to refrain from further escalating tensions and instead promote peaceful settlement by diplomatic means.”
Aquino, however, said a Philippine plane would check the shoal once the weather improves.
“If there’s a presence in our territorial waters, then we will redeploy,” Aquino said. “But if there is no other presence or other vessels that might impinge on our sovereignty, there’s no need to deploy.”
A storm that has whipped up 5-meter waves continued to lash the area yesterday. Filipino forecasters said the weather may start to clear by the weekend. Ships and fishing boats have been warned to stay away from the rough seas, they said.
A Philippine government official told The Associated Press that six Chinese government ships and 30 Chinese fishing boats were sighted at Scarborough on Tuesday.
The fishing boats, which have been marooned in the shoal’s sprawling lagoon, may have been stranded by the passing storm and may leave once the weather clears, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing a lack of authority to talk to reporters.
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said two Chinese surveillance ships and one Philippine Bureau of Fisheries vessel have left the shoal’s lagoon over the past two weeks. He urged China to withdraw its remaining vessels from the lagoon as a first step to resolve the impasse.
Both sides also have been discussing how to deal with the ships outside the lagoon, he said.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday that Chinese fishing boats would be withdrawn from the shoal during the bad weather but suggested that China has no immediate plans to pull out its ships from Scarborough altogether.
“The Chinese side will continue to maintain administration and vigilance over Huangyan Island waters,” he said, referring to the Chinese name of Scarborough.
n FROM: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beijing-Manila tension refuses to die down
