RP to inquire about Viet tours to Spratlys

The government, surprised by a Vietnamese announcement, will ask Hanoi about its reported plan to send tourists to the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Rafael Seguis said the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi will verify the information from Vietnamese authorities.

"We have to verify from our embassy," Seguis said. "We will get the facts first and then evaluate. We will reserve comment until all the facts are determined."

On the other hand, Julia Heidemann, Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, said they will check if the Vietnamese plan violates the code of conduct on the Spratlys signed in November 2002 by the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China.

"We would like first to check on this," she said.

"It is proper to have some kind of dialogue, consultation among the claimant countries if this is okay. We would want to know if there was some kind of consultation with the other claimants ... and (if it) does not violate the code of conduct signed in November," Heidemann said.

The embassy in Hanoi will find out if the plan to send tourists to the Spratlys is a private undertaking or if it involves the government of Vietnam, she said.

Vietnam announced it would conduct a trial run by sending tourists to the Spratlys next month, and if this was successful, more trips will be offered.

The tour will be run by a Vietnamese state-owned tourism company, said Tran Son Hai, director of the tourism department of Khanh Hoa province, which administers the atolls.

Do Nhu Phu, chairman of Vietnam’s People’s Committee on the Spratly Islands District, was quoted as saying that the tour will be conducted by the Hai Thanh company, an affiliate of the Vietnamese navy.

"We have to learn some experience from the first tour before we could offer regular tours to both local and foreign tourists in the future," he was quoted as saying.

An official of the Vietnam Tourism Administration was also quoted as saying that the government "has agreed in principle on the proposal to set up tours" in the Spratlys.

The Spratlys island chain straddles vital shipping lanes, and is claimed in whole or part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, China and Taiwan.

The islands are believed to contain vast oil and gas reserves and have been a source of tension in the region. All the claimants except Brunei have troops posted in the islands.

Vietnam and China clashed in 1988 and 1992 over the Spratlys.

In November 2002, ASEAN, which includes Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, signed an agreement with China calling on all the claimants to avoid actions which may heighten tensions there.

Taiwan, which is considered a renegade province by China, was not included in the declaration. — With AFP report