[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[Senate]
[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.


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