[Pages S7386-S7387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

THE SPRATLY ISLANDS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, while the dispute surrounding the Spratly
Islands in the South China Sea has seemingly disappeared from our
domestic press, I would like my colleagues to know that--
unfortunately--it has not been resolved. On the contrary, the frequency
and tenor of the hostile rhetoric and minor tiffs between the concerned
parties have increased since I last spoke about the issue on the floor
on March 30 of this year. This is reflected in the Asian media, and I
would like to share here a small representative sampling of those
reports from just the last 2 weeks with my colleagues to keep them
abreast of the most recent developments. I ask unanimous consent. That
several editorials be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

Military To ``Firmly'' Defend Territorial Waters

Hanoi VNA, May 7.--Defending firmly the territorial waters
and islands in the East Sea [South China Sea] is an important
part in Vietnam's strategic task of safeguarding its national
independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, said an
article in the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People's Army) daily on
Friday [5 May].
The article, run in anticipation of the 40th foundation day
of the Vietnam People's Navy (May 7), praised the Navy's
feats of arms in the two resistance wars against foreign
invaders. Over the past 40 years, the Vietnamese Navy made a
big contribution to the struggle for national independence
and freedom, particularly in the fight against the enemy's
air raids and harbour blockade in the north. The Navy was
assigned to set up a `Ho Chi Minh Trail on the sea' to
transport military supplies to liberation fighters in the
south and actively engaged in the spring 1975 general
offensive which liberated the entire South Vietnam including
Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.
Vietnam has a coastal line of 3,260 km. It has one million
sq. Km of sea under its jurisdiction including two
archipelagoes Hoang Sa, Parag Sa (Spratly) and a great number
of other islands. Endowed with rich oil and other natural
resources, Vietnam is expected to tap 7.7 million tonnes of
crude oil this year and about 20-25 million tonnes by the
year 2000.
Regarding the East Sea issue, during his talks in Seoul
last month with South Korean president, party General
Secretary Do Muoi said Truong Sa and Hoang Sa belong to
Vietnam, and it wants to resolve the disputes through
peaceful negotiations on the basis of equality, mutual
respect and in line with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea. He expressed his wish that joint efforts should be
made to build Asia-the Pacific into a region of peace,
stability, cooperation and prosperity.
For his part, President Le Duc Anh in a recent message to
the inhabitants and soldiers on Truong Sa on the occasion of
the 20th liberation day of the archipelago stressed that it
is the country's sacred territory.
____

Trip Is ``Serious Infringement''

Beijing, May 16, (XINHUA)--Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen
Guofang issued a statement here today.
Shen Guofang said: Plotted and organized by the Philippine
military, a formation of two Philippine warships and one
pleasure-boat carrying Filipino and foreign reporters sailed
to Meiji Reef of our country's Nansha Islands [Spratly
Islands] on 13 May to engage in so-called ``news-gathering''
activities. Prior to that, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and
the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines had made stern
representations on several occasions to the Philippine side,
in which they demanded the latter to call off this
provocative act. The Philippine side, however, disregarded
the Chinese Government's stern warning and was bent on having
its own way. This was a serious infringement of China's
sovereignty. The Chinese Government has lodged a strong
protest with the Philippine Government over this matter.
He said: We advise the Philippine side not to misinterpret
the Chinese side's restraint. The Philippine side had better
return to the correct course of settling the relevant dispute
through peaceful talks. If the Philippine side continues to
act willfully and recklessly, it should be responsible for
all consequences arising therefrom.
____

``Reckless Moves'' Discouraged

Beijing, May 16 (XINHUA)--China repeated today its protest
against the Philippines for an organized trip by the
Philippine side to Nansha Islands [Spratly Islands] last
week, asking it ``not to misunderstand China's restraint.''
On May 13, at the instigation of the Philippine military
forces, two Philippine warships and another ship carrying
Philippine and foreign reporters went to China's Meiji Reef
in the Nansha Islands for a so-called ``interview'',
according to a statement of Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Shen Guofang issued here today.
Before that, Shen said, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and
Chinese Embassy to the Philippines had made many solemn
representations to the Philippine side, asking that country
to cancel the provocative action.
However, the Philippine side, regardless of China's serious
warning, still acted willfully, the spokesman said, adding
that the action seriously encroached on China's * * *.
____

Philippines', PRC Ships Face ``Standoff'' in Spratlys ``Standoff''
Lasts 70 Minutes

(``News Focus'' by Virgilio C. Galvez)

Off Mischief Reef, Spratly Islands, May 16 KYODO--Two
Chinese ships faced off with two Philippine naval vessels
Saturday [13 May] while journalists were being ferried by
helicopters over a Chinese-held reef in the disputed Spratly
islands in the South China Sea.
The 70-minute standoff ended several minutes after the last
of seven chopper sorties landed on the deck of the BRP
Benguet, a landing ship which was carrying the first ever
group of foreign and Filipino reporters to Mischief Reef, 250
kilometers west of Palawan Island in the western Philippines.
``You saw for yourself what they did . . . They crossed our
bow. We were just doing our thing,'' Maj. Gen. Carlos Tanega,
commander of Military Forces in western Philippines, told
reporters.
``We were just launching and recovering helicopters . . .
and here they are, sometimes blocking our way,'' Tanega
pointed out.
On Monday, Beijing formally protested Manila's decision to
allow foreign journalists to visit the disputed island Chain.
Apart from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Taiwan,
Malaysia and Brunei also claim all or portions of the
Spratlys, which are believed to be rich in oil and other
mineral deposits.
The media group, composed mostly of members of the Foreign
Correspondents Association of the Philippines, left Manila on
[[Page S7387]] May 11 for Puerto Princesa, nearly 600 km
southwest of the capital.
It returned Tuesday to Manila after observing special
municipal elections held Sunday in Pag-Asa, the largest of
seven Spratly islands held by the Philippines.
After two nights aboard a private cruise ship, the
journalists reached Jackson Atoll, about 50 km northwest of
Mischief Reef, where they transferred to the World War II
vintage Benguet.
The first two sorties with 16 journalists on board Vietnam
war-era Uhih choppers with ``press'' markings took off at
about 11:15 AM when the landing ship was about 30 km off
Mischief Reef.
Also on board was Tanega, the first Philippine officer to
fly over the area since the Chinese built at least 14
structures on four platforms around the reef.
Manila has strongly condemned the Chinese occupation of the
reef, which Filipino officials stress is well within the
country's 200-km exclusive economic zone.
Beijing maintains that the reef is part of its territory
and claims the structures are ``shelters for fishermen.''
Tanega pointed out the two Chinese ships raced back to the
reef's lagoon after apparently seeing the choppers,
journalists said.
But in the second wave of sorties, journalists saw the
ships heading toward the Philippine naval ships which were
about 24 km off the reef.
From the ship's foredeck, journalists saw the Chinese
vessels, a small fast boat and a larger ship, assume blocking
positions midway between the reef and the Philippine vessels.
At that point, about 16 km from the reef, the Benguet
stopped to launch the fourth and fifth sorties.
``We stopped because . . . We knew this is the place where
we could accomplish the mission in the best, expeditious and
safest way,'' said Tanega at a press conference the next day.
As the Benguet was ``lying to,'' a naval term to mean that
a ship has stopped without dropping anchor, its patrol
escort, Miguel Malvar, maneuvered from starboard to a
position to port.
Tanega said this was done to prevent the bigger Chinese
ship from coming closer to the Benguet.
The smaller Chinese vessel moved to a position as close as
50 meters from the Benguet from where some its crew took
photos and filmed the operations of the naval ship.
``The reaction was definitely expected because they did not
know what we were doing,'' said Tanega.
``They did not know where the helicopters were taking off .
. . They could not surmise how a land-based helicopter could
fly 208 km from the nearest land field,'' he pointed out.
Tanega said that while the Chinese vessel, whose Chinese
markings identified it as belonging to Beijing's Bureau of
Fisheries, was ``too close for comfort,'' he was not bothered
by its presence.
As the choppers were secured on the deck of the Benguet, a
Philippine Air Force reconnaissance plane radioed Tanega
about the approach of ``two savage fishes.''
The plane was referring to Chinese frigates, which
journalists learned were 24 km away and racing toward them.
Shortly after, at about 2:45 PM, Tanega ordered the Benguet
and its escort ship to maneuver out of the area and proceed
to Pag-Asa, some 18 hours away.
The two Chinese vessels made no attempt to stop the ships
and stayed behind while the frigates, whose outlines could be
seen on the horizon, appeared to stop.
``What is important here is we did what we had to do
because this is our territory. We were eyeball to eyeball. We
did not blink,'' said Tanega.
____

PRC Stance on Media's Spratlys Tour Analyzed

(Editorial: ``Manila Scores Versus Beijing'')

Whatever substance to Beijing's claim that the Chinese
structures on Mischief Reef are mere stations of Chinese
fishermen has been shown spurious by the celebrated stand-off
that took place last Saturday at the Kalayaan Islands. There,
two Chinese warships suddenly appeared 15 nautical miles away
in apparent support of Chinese vessels blocking a Philippine
Navy ship carrying local and foreign journalists.
The inspection trip by our Navy would have been enough to
impress upon independent journalists that the structures on
Mischief Reef could not have been mere fishing stations by
ubiquitous Chinese fishermen: the structures are made of
metal with parabolic discs all around, giving credence to
Manila's claim they could eventually become naval support
facilities.
But the Chinese, not exactly known for subtlety, betrayed
their own intentions; they themselves confirmed Manila's
claim. Within minutes after Philippine Navy helicopters
started their sorties of Mischief Reef last Saturday, two
frigates from the Chinese navy raced to the sight in apparent
aid of the Chinese ``fishermen''.
The trip has therefore accomplished Manila's objective of
proving to the international community that the Chinese are
undermining the status quo in the Kalayaan and unnecessarily
causing tension there. By arranging for the coverage by
foreign journalists, Manila has not only scored a public
relations point against Beijing, it has also buttressed its
territorial claim to the Kalayaan. As Acting Foreign
Secretary Domingo Siazon put it when he turned down Beijing's
request that the tour be canceled, the foreign journalists
who were coming along for the inspection should be an
indication of how they perceived the ``sovereignty issue''.
By drawing international opinion to the issue, Manila has
hit back at Beijing in the most capable way it could, making
full use of the resources of democracy and unmasking in the
process China's unneighborly designs in the region. It has
billed the trip as a concession to freedom of the press and
made it just an item in the larger itinerary of visiting the
Filipino settlements in the Kalayaan in order to conduct the
elections there. In one fell swoop, the Philippines has been
able to demonstrate its democratic character contrast to the
authoritarian regime in China as well as the fact that the
Kalayaan is hers by virtue of the Filipino living there.
The rub is that the confrontation shows China's
aggressiveness in pursuing its weak claim on Kalayaan. And
with the Philippine military by all accounts standing eyeball
to eyeball with the Chinese display of mi last Saturday--the
Italian-made jets of the Philippine Air Force screamed
overhead during the stand-off to warn theinese--, what has
been drummed to the international community is the
seriousness of the Kalayaan dispute. In such a t, hostilities
in the islands could break out any time.
But the tension could be managed by forceful diplomacy and
imaginative show of force against Beijing. Manila has been
able to compel Washington to issue a statement which voiced
United States' interest that ``freedom of maritime
investigation'' shall be preserved in the South China Sea, a
clear potshot at Beijing over its mischievous incursions.
Manila now has to navigate through the contentious domestic
dispute over some sort of a military logistical arrangement
of the US in the aftermath of the pullout of the Americans
from Subic and Clark. Asian capitals and some sectors in
thilippine are loath to admit it but the key to controlling
China and maintaining Asian security in the future is to
America militarily engaged in the region.
____

[From the Manila Philippine Daily, May 18, 1995]

``Creative'' Policy on Spratlys Leads to Success

The decision to take on China on the Spratlys is the
boldest foreign policy initiative ever taken by the Ramos
administration. It is even more remarkable if we consider
that he took a stand despite the military and economic
weakness of the Philippines. That the Philippines forcefully
challenged Chinese creeping expansion in the Spratlys was a
shock to China, as well as a surprise to our ASEAN allies.
They never expected the ``sick man of Asia'' to take on the
Chinese giant on the question of territorial integrity. The
diplomatic gamble paid off. It brought to the surface
historic fears in Asia about the Chinese threat, which is
more magnified by the modernization of its armed forces and
its rapidly expanding economy.
President Ramos' gamble touched a raw nerve among Asians,
and now many of our neighbors have dropped their reluctance
to warn against the Chinese threat. The fear and anxieties
over the Chinese move on the Spratlys are based on stronger
grounds than sovereignty or who should exploit maritime
resources supposed to lie underneath the atolls. The larger
issue, as pointed out by Goh Chok Tong to Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Peng, involves the freedom of navigation in the
South China Sea, over which China claims sovereignty based on
antiquarian maps.
It was the Philippines' actions that proved to be the
catalyst of the new-found solidarity among ASEAN and the
Asia-Pacific nations, notably Japan and the United States, to
forge a common stand in persuading China that it is in her
interest to bring the dispute within the framework of
multilateral negotiations. The Philippine action proves that
tough diplomatic decisions can give us a position of strength
if we get international support behind us. This is what we
call creative diplomacy.

Mr. THOMAS. Let me say in closing, Mr. President, that I am pleased
the State Department has finally issued a definitive U.S. position on
the Spratlys, with which I heartily agree. I believe that the Foreign
Relations Committee will take up Senate Resolution 97--a sense-of-the-
Senate resolution on the islands which I sponsored--in the near future
and move it to the floor soon thereafter.

____________________