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Patrol ship on routine mission: Ministry

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-18 07:59

China's largest fishery patrol ship China Yuzheng 311 was "on a routine mission" in the South China Sea, and its dispatch was not a "flexure of military might", the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

"China has always attached great importance to the maritime administration and supervision of the South China Sea, and the ship serves this purpose," Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Yuzheng 311, China's largest fishery administration vessel, is pictured as it arrives in the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, March 17, 2009. [Xinhua]

The vessel would mainly patrol the waters of China's exclusive economic zones, including the Nansha, Xisha and Zhongsha islands, Wu Zhuang, director of the Administration of Fishery and Fishing Harbor Supervision of the South China Sea, has said earlier.

Qin reiterated China's sovereignty over Huangyan Island and the Nansha Islands, which the Philippines had claimed as its territory.

Related readings:  Fishery patrol ship sent to protect interests  China's largest fishery patrol ship begins mission

He made the statement hours after the ship arrived in the Xisha Islands after a weeklong voyage from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

The vessel is operated by the Agriculture Ministry's South China Sea Fishery Administration Bureau and is the largest of its kind, with a maximum displacement of 4,450 tons.

Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao met with the Philippines' Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita and the Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday to discuss the disputed islands.

Enrile said he told Liu he wanted the matter to be "resolved diplomatically and in a friendly way", the Philippines' GMANews TV reported.

Filipino President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the Baseline Bill on March 10 claiming the Huangyan Island and the Nansha Islands among her country's territory.

Xinhua contributed to the story