SOUTH CHINA SEA : FILIPINO PROTESTERS LAND ON DISPUTED ISLAND

Manila, 16 Rabiul Awwal 1437/28 December 2015 (MINA) – Protesters have landed on a remote Philippine island in the disputed South China Sea, officials say.

About 50 Filipinos, mostly students, reached Pagasa in the Spratly archipelago on Saturday, saying they planned to stay for three days.

They say they want to highlight growing Chinese encroachment in a Philippine exclusive economic zone., BBC.com, quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Describing their expedition as a “a patriotic voyage,” the protesters, led by an ex-Marine captain Nicanor Faeldon,
planned to camp on Pagasa for three days in a symbolic act of defiance against China.

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“We encourage the highest leadership of the country to inform the people correctly without sugar coating the truth about Chinese invasion of our exclusive economic zone,” the protesters said in a post on Facebook.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, believed to be rich in resources, dismissing rival claims by neighbours.

Apart from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam all lay claim to the disputed waters.

The group is expected to leave the island on Monday. T/R07/R01)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Ageny (MINA)