Envoy can’t confirm if buoys found near Panatag were from China

Beijing’s envoy to Manila said he can not confirm if the several buoys found floating off the West Philippine Sea last July are from China.

Filipino fishermen said they spotted huge orange-colored booms, measuring several meters long with Chinese markings, four kilometers from the Philippine-claimed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, a U-shaped rocky outcrop seized by China from Manila in 2012.

It was later towed back to shore in Iba, Zambales, 124 nautical miles from the disputed feature, by the Philippine Coast Guard.

Asked if the buoys belong to China, Ambassador Zhao Jianhua replied: “I don’t know.”

Speaking to journalists at Singapore’s diplomatic reception Tuesday night, Zhao said “even the people there cannot tell” and “are not sure where it came from.”

Zhao also raised the possibility that the bouys could come from another country or it might have been imported from China by another country.

“You know these Chinese markings, a lot of countries use Chinese. Actually they can import something like that from China,” he said.

He also said he could not read the wordings on the buoys because  “it was not quite clear on the newspaper.”

“It looks like Chinese but it could also be Japanese,” he said.

The Philippines, China and several other Asian countries have been locked in years-long territorial row over the South China Sea, where undersea oil and gas deposits in several areas.

China became increasingly aggressive in asserting its claim over the waters and have engaged in massive and rapid reclamation activities in seven disputed reefs, turning them into man-made islands with buildings and at least one airstrip.

Alarmed by China’s building spree, the Philippines, Vietnam, United States and Japan, called for a halt in its construction activities, saying such actions is a violation of international law, heighten tensions in the region and impedes freedom of navigation.

China, which lays claim to nearly the entire waters even as it overlaps with the boundaries of its Asian neighbors, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, says it has already stopped the reclamation.

However, Zhao said China is moving toward the next phase of construction and will erect more buildings for civilian use, like fishing shelters, search and rescue and scientific research, and minimal military structures. —KBK, GMA News