Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17 ... icRSS20-saThe Philippines says its main naval vessel is engaged in a stand-off with Chinese surveillance ships at a disputed South China Sea shoal.The Philippines said its warship tried to arrest Chinese fishermen anchored at the Scarborough Shoal, but was blocked by the two surveillance boats.
Both countries dispute the ownership of the shoal, which lies off the Philippines' northwestern coast.
The Philippine government said it would "assert sovereignty" over the area.
A statement from the county's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the naval vessel, the Gregorio Del Pilar, found eight Chinese fishing vessels at the shoal when it was patrolling the area on Sunday.
Two Chinese surveillance ships then apparently arrived in the area on Tuesday, placing themselves between the warship and the fishing vessels.
Disputed seasAccording to French news agency AFP, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario contacted China's ambassador to the Philippines, Ma Keqing, to emphasise that the Scarborough Shoal area was "an integral part of Philippine territory".
He is said to be seeking a diplomatic solution to the situation.
The stand-off comes as the Philippines prepares for joint naval exercises with the United States from the 16 to 27 April near the disputed area.
Six countries claim competing sovereignty over areas in the South China Sea, which is believed to contain huge deposits of oil and gas.
Along with China and the Philippines, they are Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
China's claim includes almost the entire South China Sea, well into what the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognises as the 200-mile-from-shore Exclusive Economic Zones of other claimants.
That has led to occasional flare-ups and to competition to occupy islands, reefs and sandbars.
