Philippines - Philippines says warship removed from China standoff

MANILA: The Philippines said Thursday it had pulled its biggest warship out of a standoff with Chinese vessels, but the impasse was not resolved with China sending a third ship to the disputed waters.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario would not why say the Philippines had pulled out the navy ship, which had been stationed near a tiny set of islands in the South China Sea since Sunday in an effort to arrest Chinese fishermen caught fishing there.

"That is an operational undertaking I can't discuss with you," he said.

The pullout means the Philippines is left with a coast guard search and rescue boat as its only presence in the disputed waters.

Meanwhile, Del Rosario said a third Chinese maritime vessel had arrived to back up the two Chinese surveillance ships that had been there since Tuesday.

The Chinese vessels had been blocking the Philippine plan to arrest the fishermen.

"There are three ships there now. Three white ships. The third ship arrived today, this morning, I understand. It's a Bureau of Fisheries Chinese civilian ship," he said.

Asked whether the Philippine government was alarmed at the extra Chinese presence, he said: "Well, we are watching developments and, at the same time, we are pursuing the diplomatic track in terms of coming to a resolution on the issue."

He said the Chinese ambassador to Manila, Ma Keqing, had not informed him that China was sending an additional ship, despite negotiating with her to try and resolve the issue.

- AFP/wm

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