PHNO-HL: CHINESE BOATS OFF SCARBOROUGH SHOAL / CHINA UPSET OVER SINKING BOAT REPORT

CHINESE BOATS OFF SCARBOROUGH SHOAL / CHINA UPSET OVER
SINKING BOAT REPORT
[PHOTO- Chinese
surveillance ships are seen off Scarborough Shoal in his undated file photo
taken by the Philippine Navy and released by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
AFP/DFA]
MANILA, JUNE 26, 2012 (INQUIRER)
By Fat Reyes - The Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Monday that all Chinese boats have sailed out
of the lagoon in Scarborough Shoal.
"Based on coordination with the Philippines and China, as of two days ago, we
have received information that all boats have left the lagoon in Bajo de
Masinloc. There are no longer any boats from either the Philippines or China
inside the shoal," DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said in a text message to
Inquirer.net, referring to a statement by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del
Rosario.
China and the Philippines have been at a stand-off over the West Philippine
Sea. The Philippines refers to the area as Bajo de Masinloc while China refers
to it as Huangyan Island.
Last week, the Chinese Ministry of Transport announced that it was sending a
Nanhaiju-115 vessel to the area to help Chinese fishing boats and fishermen pull
out for shelter because of stormy weather.
The Philippines earlier ordered a withdrawal of its Coast Guard vessel and a
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources survey ship, also citing bad weather.

DFA said in earlier statements that talks were still going on for the
withdrawal of the Chinese ships positioned outside the lagoon, despite China's
claims that it had no plans of leaving the shoal.
Chinese embassy upset over sea ramming incident report
By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 1:57 pm | Monday,
June 25th, 2012

[PHOTO -Herman Balmores, one of the fishermen rescued after a Chinese
ship rammed their boat off Bolinao, Pangasinan, rests at the hospital in Vigan
City. RICARDO RAGUINI / CONTRIBUTOR]
MANILA, Philippines – The Chinese Embassy here has expressed displeasure over
news reports that a Chinese vessel had rammed a Philippine fishing boat, leaving
one fisherman dead, three others injured and four more missing.
"Such media reports remain to be verified," said Zhang Hua, the embassy
spokesman, in a statement Sunday night.
"Upon seeing the stories, the Chinese embassy immediately checked with the
relevant authorities in China and was told that up until now, there have been no
reports of vessel collision, accident or SOS requests," he said, referring to
the alleged incident off Bolinao in Pangasinan last Wednesday that was only
reported Sunday, a day after the three injured fishermen were rescued off Ilocos
Sur.
"Someone reportedly said that the Philippine fishing boat was rammed by a
Chinese vessel," Zhang said.
"We wonder what that news story was based upon," he said. "We hope relevant
persons can verify the facts with a responsible attitude before they report (the
news)," he added.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to comment on the news report,
saying "we will have to verify the report first."


Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved




PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE


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