the South China Sea +despite warnings +United States that China +Scarborough Shoal +Group of 20 summit +an artificial island +a chaotic arrival +HANGZHOU, China — An unusually large number of Chinese vessels have been positioned close to a disputed reef innear the coast of the Philippines for the last week,by theshould stay away.The Philippine defense department has photographs of four Chinese Coast Guard ships, and six other vessels, less than a mile from, which is claimed by the Philippines and China, the defense minister, Delfin Lorenzana, said in an interview.The presence of the Chinese ships during themeeting in Hangzhou, China, where President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping met on Saturday, seemed particularly provocative.Obama specifically warned Xi at a meeting in Washington in March not to start buildingat Scarborough Shoal. The six vessels that look like civilian ships could be navy ships "masquerading" as other ships, Lorenzana said.The Chinese ambassador in Manila had been warned about the ships last week, but the envoy denied that Chinese vessels were in the vicinity of the shoal, Lorenzana said. Now that the Philippines had photographs, the images would be taken to the Chinese Embassy as evidence, he added.The new president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte , said on Friday in Davao City that it was "unsettling" to read his government's intelligence reports that a lot of Chinese ships were in the Scarborough Shoal area.Duterte is scheduled to attend an East Asian summit meeting in Laos on Tuesday. The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, is also expected to be there, but Duterte said he may reserve stating his concern to the Chinese for another occasion, presumably when Xi is present. The Chinese later defied the deal, placing a cordon across the mouth of the shoal and positioning a coast guard vessel nearby.

Source: Times of India September 05, 2016 16:38 UTC