bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

THE Philippines said yesterday it had blown up several markers and structures put up by China on Philippine-claimed reefs and atolls of the disputed Spratly Islands.

  Philippine armed forces chief General Arturo Enrile said: 'We have destroyed some of them. We demolished them with explosives.'   He said territorial markers installed by the Chinese were also destroyed last week by the Philippine military in the area.

  The announcement triggered an immediate reaction from China, reaffirming its claim over the disputed archipelago.

    This latest development followed three days of inconclusive talks between Rodolfo Severino, Philippine Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, and his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan.

  In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang said the islands had been Chinese since ancient times but that there had been preliminary discussions on co-operation on matters such as fishing and meteorology.

  China insisted the dispute did not change overall good relations.

  The bilateral talks followed a diplomatic uproar over the islands last month after Manila accused Beijing of building bases and despatching naval vessels to the Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef, which lies about 135 nautical miles from its coast.

  Beijing later said the structures were built by low-level functionaries without the knowledge of the central Government.

  The Philippine military said stone markers with Chinese inscriptions were discovered on Jackson Atoll and Half Moon Reef, and scaffolds were found on Sabina Reef, which lies within the Philippines' 320 km exclusive economic zone.

  General Enrile said Filipino troops would continue to patrol the reefs and would demolish any markers put up by rival claimants.



Manila blows up Spratlys Chinese markers