MANILA: Defense ministers from the Philippines and China agreed on Monday to avoid unilateral action that may fuel tension in the South China Sea as Manila said the site of two recent incidents was unquestionably its territory. Last week, media reported two Chinese MiG fighter jets were seen intruding in Philippine air space by an air force patrol over Reed Bank near Palawan Island, two months after Manila said Chinese boats had harassed a survey ship there. Philippine Defence Minister Voltaire Gazmin said his Chinese counterpart, General Liang Guanglie, told him that China had no MiG fighters. Liang did not say whether other Chinese fighters were on patrol over disputed areas of the South China Sea. Gazmin said the Philippines was not accusing China of violating its air space because there were no clear identification of the aircraft. “Both ministers acknowledge the need to ensure that the South China Sea remains stable,” the ministers said in a statement after meeting at a main army base in Manila. “Both ministers recognized that unilateral action which could cause alarm should be avoided.” The South China Sea covers an area of more than 648,000 sq miles, containing more than 200 mostly uninhabitable small islands, rocks and reefs.
