Chinese 'start building structures' on Panatag Shoal - military sources
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- China has begun constructing structures on disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, and its vessels have been unloading gravel, stone, cement and metal, highly placed military sources told InterAksyon.comThursday.
The sources, who spoke on condition they not be named, also said defense officials are in possession of satellite photos that prove the Chinese activity on the disputed shoal, which the Philippines also calls Bajo de Masinloc, for the Zambales town to which it belongs.
“The defense and military establishments have already in (their) possession satellite photographs of what the Chinese are actually doing on our shoal. At least three Chinese big ships, on a rotation basis, are maintaining their presence on the shoal, aside from fishing vessels that are unloading sacks of gravel, stone, cement, and metals,” one of the sources said.
In one media interview, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Chinese had already roped off the entrance to the shoal, a rich fishing ground, to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering.
“‘Yung tali na ginawang bakod ng mga Chinese sa Panatagay kasing-laki ng hita ng tao (The rope barrier put up by the Chinese is as thick as a man’s thigh),” another source said, adding it would only take “few more weeks” before new structures rise on the shoal “with the Chinese flag flying.”
A standoff between Philippine and Chinese ships at Panatag in April last year marked the beginning of growing tensions over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea, also called the South China Sea, that Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia are also claiming in whole or in part.
Since then, China has become more aggressive in its incursions into the disputed territories, the most recent being Ayungin Reef, which belongs to the Kalayaan Island Group municipality of Palawan.
The Philippines has sought United Nations arbitration of the dispute, a move that has angered China
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