DFA-PHL: We’re not building airports

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 30): DFA-PHL: We’re not building airports

Denying China’s accusations of building airports in the disputed Spratly Islands, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Charles Jose on Thursday said the Philippines is not undertaking any construction activity in the South China Sea.

Jose cleared the issue saying the Philippines already has an airport in the Pag-asa Islands and is doing maintenance contrary to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei’s statement during a press conference last Tuesday.

“They said ‘building.’ We’re not even doing something with our airports here, what more in the Spratlys?” Jose said in an interview with ANC in response to Lei’s allegations.

“For a long time, the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries have been carrying out reclamations on the Chinese islands. They are illegally occupying in the Nansha Islands, building airports and other fixed infrastructure, even deploying missiles and other military equipment,” Lei said.

The construction of the airport in Pag-asa Islands according to DFA was prior to the 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Hong also accused other claimant countries of building airports, illegally occupying islands within Chinese territories, and deploying missiles.

He asked the Philippines and Vietnam to stop all illegal action on Chinese territories.

DFA on the other hand said that China’s reclamation is a direct violation to the ASEAN-China agreement and 2002 and that the Asian economic giant is avoiding allegations by pointing fingers at other territorial claimants. China defended their claims saying constructions held by the country on Nansha Islands or Spratly islands are within China’s sovereignty.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=757684