Updated on
Summary China has denied it is preparing for combat with Philippines in the South China Sea.
The tense territorial row has dragged on for more than a month now.The stand-off erupted last month after Philippine authorities detected Chinese ships fishing near the Scarborough Shoal.They tried to arrest the crew, but were blocked by Chinese surveillance vessels deployed to the tiny rocky outcrop in the South China Sea about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines main island of Luzon.The two nations have stationed non-military vessels at the shoal since April 8 in an effort to assert their sovereignty over the area.But Chinas defence ministry denied military units were getting ready for war, despite warnings in state media that China is prepared to fight to end the stand-off.Reports that the Guangzhou military region, the South China Sea fleet and other units have entered a state of war preparedness are untrue, the ministry said in a brief statement on its website late Friday.The Guangzhou military region in southern China has responsibility for the area.It gave no source for the reports, but rumours on Chinese microblogs say China has ordered some military units up to level two of its four-level scale of war preparedness, one notch from the top which indicates full readiness.China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop huge oil and gas reserves, as its historical territory, even waters close to the coasts of other Asian countries.The Philippines says the shoal is part of its territory because it falls within its exclusive economic zone.On Friday, around 300 protestors demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy in the Philippines to denounce bullying by Beijing.Chinese citizens responded by holding far smaller protests outside the Philippine embassy in Beijing on Friday and Saturday, but police have not allowed sustained demonstrations.
