MANILA: A Philippine military aircraft confirmed Saturday that a Chinese naval
frigate remains stranded in disputed waters of the South China Sea, a military
spokesman said.
The Chinese frigate and smaller
craft were sighted by a Philippine Islander plane, said regional military
spokesman Colonel Neil Anthony Estrella.
"During the aerial
reconnaissance mission, they were able to confirm, based on photographs, that
there is indeed a ship with bow number 560 aground at Half Moon Shoal," he
told AFP.
He said five more vessels and a
number of smaller boats were assisting the grounded ship.
A navy ship and a coast guard
vessel had been dispatched to the area to monitor the Chinese operations, he
added.
He stressed that the shoal was
just 60 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Palawan, well
within the country's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, as recognised
by international law.
Foreign Department spokesman Raul
Hernandez said in a statement, "we need to find out what really happened
with the Chinese frigate in our territory".
He reiterated that the
Philippines would provide assistance to move the ship if China requested it.
The Chinese government earlier
confirmed that the ship was on "routine patrol" when it became
stranded near Half Moon Shoal in the Spratly Islands on Wednesday evening.
The stranding highlights the
territorial conflicts between the two countries which marred the ASEAN Regional
Forum in Cambodia this week.
At the forum, the Philippines'
foreign minister denounced Chinese "duplicity" and
"intimidation" in the South China Sea and conflicting positions on
the issue prevented the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from issuing its
customary joint statement.
The Philippines and China have
been in a standoff since Chinese ships blocked the Philippine navy from
arresting Chinese fishermen at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South
China Sea in April.
The Philippines says the shoal is
also within its EEZ but China claims the entire South China Sea as its historical
territory, even up to the coasts of other Southeast Asian countries. The sea is
believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
In Manila, a group of
Filipino-Americans on Saturday called for a boycott of Chinese products and a
day of prayer to rally support against China's actions.
- AFP/ck
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