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China assures no hostile act in Spratlys - Manila

MANILA: China has told the Philippines it will refrain from hostile acts in settling the six-nation dispute over the Spratly Islands, Philippine President Fidel Ramos said on Saturday.

Ramos said the Philippines in turn suggested a three-pronged approach to defuse tension in the South China Sea island chain, including multilateral talks among nations claiming the Spratlys.

He said Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen told Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon in talks last week in Brunei "that China would not engage in acts inimical to the stability of the South China Sea area" and that Beijing was committed to resolve the territorial dispute through peaceful dialogue.

While welcoming the Chinese assurances, the Philippines remains concerned with the structures built by China on Mischief Reef in a portion of the Spratlys claimed by Manila, Ramos said.

Ramos said the three-pronged approach proposed by Manila called for both bilateral and multilateral talks and the establishment of sister-city and sister-province ties between China and the Philippines.

The Philippine provinces of Cebu or Palawan, which lies nearest the Spratlys, "could have such links with Hainan, which is the base for many Chinese fishermen, and chinese military and naval units that operate in the area," Ramos added.

Aside from Philippines and China, the Spratlys is being claimed wholly or in part by Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

China and the Philippines are to hold vice-ministerial talks in Manila on August 8 to 12 to discuss the Spratly issues.

"Towards this end, we are ready to examine various confidence-building measures and other proposals which China may suggest," Ramos said.

Qian met with Siazon in Brunei last week during a consultative session with the seven-member Association of Southeast Aisan Nations where he said China was willing to solve the ownership dispute according to international law.-Reuter