During the orgy of racial exploitation by the American media an important story was lost in the din. Chinese communist ships were in a tense stand-off this week with Philippine naval vessels which ostensibly started over Chinese poaching:
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and China agreed Friday to set aside their diplomatic protests in order to ease tensions over a naval standoff in the disputed South China Sea, the top Filipino diplomat said
China also pulled back one of three surveillance ships at the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario told reporters. But the impasse remained with two other Chinese ships facing off a Philippine coast guard vessel.
Del Rosario said that China’s ambassador presented her own proposal to end the standoff, which began early this week when Chinese ships prevented the Philippine navy from detaining Chinese fishermen who were allegedly caught poaching.
Both sides claim the uninhabited, horseshoe-shaped shoal, which lies about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Zambales province, the nearest Philippine coast.
The 4-day-old standoff has reignited concern for potential conflict in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest lanes that is also home to a myriad of competing territorial claims, most notably the Spratly Islands south of the shoal.
The disputes have settled into an uneasy standoff since the last major clash, which involved China and Vietnam and killed more than 70 Vietnamese sailors in 1988.
The barren islands, reefs and coral outcrops are claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. They are rich fishing grounds and are believed to contain oil and gas reserves.
So the stakes here are high, especially to a country like China whose internal stability relies on large supplies of both cheap food and cheap energy. But there may be more going on here as this report implies:
MANILA, Philippines – The standoff at Scarborough Shoal, which Filipinos call Panatag Shoal, is a baptism of fire for the Navy’s largest warship BRP Gregorio del Pilar, its officers and crew.
The decades-old vessel acquired from the US last year did not encounter any intruder before this week’s incident, which involved two Chinese surveillance ships.
“What is interesting is the ship was in Palawan since Christmas and nothing happened. It’s been in Scarborough Shoal for just a day and this incident happened,” Navy chief Vice Adm. Alexander Pama remarked.
The Gregorio del Pilar was deployed to Panatag Shoal last Sunday on a mission to protect the country’s marine environment and sovereignty. The Panatag Shoal is located 124 nautical miles from the nearest base point in Zambales.
On Sunday, the Navy monitored eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored inside the shoal while conducting security patrol.
The Gregorio del Pilar sent a boarding team on Tuesday to inspect the fishing vessels and collect evidence of their catch. The team found illegally collected corals, giant clams and live sharks inside the vessels.
However, two Chinese surveillance ships placed themselves between the Gregorio del Pilar and the fishing vessels, preventing the arrest of the erring fishermen. The standoff has not been resolved as of this writing.
While critics claim the incident proved that China is not afraid of the Philippines’ warship, Pama said this boosted the morale of the Filipino sailors.
It sounds like the Chinese wanted to test the resolve and capabilities of the Philippine Navy and their newest warship which is an old U.S military vessel.