(Eagle News) — China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday (March 22) denied reports that China will begin preparatory work this year for an environmental monitoring station on the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Panatag) in the South China Sea, even as it stressed how it placed “great importance on China-Philippine relations.”
China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the reports on the media about this were simply “not true.”
“I want to say, China places great importance on the preservation of the South China Sea’s ocean ecology, this is certain. According to the relevant bodies in China, the reports you mention that touch upon building environmental monitoring stations on Scarborough Shoal are mistaken, these things are not true. I also want to say, with regards to Scarborough Shoal, China’s position is consistent and clear,” Hua Chunying said.
“Meanwhile, we place great importance on China-Philippines relations, cherish the current good momentum of development in China-Philippine relations, and will continue to be devoted to promoting healthy, stable and rapid development of China-Philippine relations,” she added.
China seized the shoal, which is northeast of the Spratly islands, in 2012 and denied access to Philippine fishermen when tensions escalated during the term of former President Benigno Aquino III.
But after President Rodrigo Duterte visited China last year, it allowed them to return to the traditional fishing area.
China’s statement came after the Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), sent a note verbale seeking clarification from China regarding reports on this alleged plan to build environmental monitoring stations in the disputed Scarborough Shoal which is also called Panatag Shoal in the Philippines.
Before this, media repeatedly pursued the story.
Earlier this month, Xiao Jie, the mayor of what China calls Sansha City, said China planned to begin preparatory work this year to build environmental monitoring stations on a number of islands, including Scarborough Shoal.
Xiao Jie’s comments about the plans as quoted by the state-backed Hainan Daily had been amended to remove mention of the shoal in the paper’s online version when checked by Reuters on Wednesday. (with a Reuters report)
