Navy chases away 10 Chinese vessels

Chinese fishermen aboard 10 trawlers were chased away by the Navy and their catch seized after they were caught poaching yesterday in waters off Scarborough Shoal, about 25 nautical miles from Zambales.

Rear Adm. Victorino Hingco, Navy flag-officer-in-command, told reporters crew members of the BRP Quezon did not make any arrests and allowed the Chinese fishermen to leave Philippine territory after their catch was confiscated.

"The Chinese fishing vessels immediately left the shoal when the Philippine Navy started confiscating the illegally harvested marine species," he said.

Hingco said the Quezon’s crew seized more than 50 shells of the endangered giant clams locally called taklobos and several sacks of its meat after they boarded and searched the 10 fishing vessels.

Navy men also confiscated nine boxes of electrical blasting caps, time fuses, dynamite sticks and cyanide, he added.

Hingco said the Chinese vessels tried to evade the Quezon and flee into international waters but the Navy was able to intercept them.

Last Thursday, Vice President Teofisto Guingona, who is also foreign affairs secretary, summoned Chinese Ambassador Xang Chungyi to protest the incursions of fishing vessels in waters off the disputed shoal.

Guingona said he asked Xang to inform the Chinese government that the Philippines has been consistently exercising jurisdiction over Scarborough Shoal and the waters surrounding it, and that Beijing should adhere to agreements calling for restraint in the disputed area.

The Foreign Office last month said the Philippines will continue to abide by the Code of Conduct forged by nations which are laying claim to disputed areas in the South China Sea.

The Code of Conduct was forged during a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1994 by six nations to ease tensions over the Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

The Spratlys are being claimed, in whole or in part, by the Philippines, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

No less than President Arroyo, in one of her first foreign policy pronouncements, said the Code of Conduct would prevent hostilities over disputed territories.

"The relationship between the Philippines and China has many good things going for it. And the Spratlys is one irritant in a sea of excellent relations," President Arroyo had said last month.

"So both governments have agreed that this will be addressed in the spirit of cooperation and non-confrontation. And in fact, the Philippines tends toward multi-lateralizing the issue, " she added.

Hingco said the Navy sent the Quezon to the waters off Scarborough late last week following reports that Chinese fishing vessels have been spotted in the disputed area.

Hingco said the Navy will strictly enforce Philippine maritime laws and international conventions to protect the country’s territory and marine resources.

"In the past, the Navy has exercised maximum restraint over Chinese fishermen who insist on fishing in the shoal," he said.

Hingco said the presence of Chinese fishing boats off Scarborough Shoal has caused the government great concern over the destruction of corals and the depletion of marine resources.

Earlier this year, Navymen boarded four Chinese fishing vessels in a separate incident in the area and ordered the intruders to leave Philippine territory.

A Chinese fisherman was shot dead in another confrontation between the Navy and fishing vessels that were caught poaching in the same area last year.

On May 24, 1999, a Navy ship sank a fleeing Chinese fishing vessel that was caught poaching off Scarborough Shoal, sparking an angry protest from Beijing.

China had protested when authorities arrested the trawler’s crew and charged them with poaching. Former Chinese Ambassador Fu Ying presented a map purchased from a local bookstore claiming the shoal was part of Chinese territory.