China Travel Agencies Halt Philippines Trips
Chinese travel agencies said Thursday they had suspended trips to the Philippines due to a tense territorial row between the two nations that has prompted state media to raise the possibility of war.
The firms, which include China's biggest travel agency China International Tour Service (CITS), cited safety concerns for the suspension, just two days after Beijing said it was ready for "any escalation" in the row with Manila.
The month-long flare-up is one of the most high-profile incidents for years between the two countries over their competing territorial claims to parts of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
The two countries have been locked in the row since April 8, when Beijing's vessels blocked a Philippine warship from arresting crews of Chinese fishing boats near the disputed Scarborough Shoal -- or Huangyan island in Chinese.
Both Beijing and Manila claim the shoal as their own, and have since sent ships to the area that are currently facing off against each other, racking up tensions in the region.
"We stopped organizing for tourists to go to the Philippines because of the current situation," an employee at the CITS Beijing branch told AFP.
China Youth Tour Service, another prominent travel agency, confirmed the suspension, saying tourism authorities had asked them to stop sending groups of tourists to the Philippines.
Another agency -- Zhongtang International Travel Service -- said it was currently "too dangerous" to send people to the country.
On Thursday an editorial in the official, English-language China Daily newspaper hinted at the possibility of war over the incident.
"No matter how willing we are to discuss the issue, the current Philippine leadership is intent on pressing us into a corner where there is no other option left but the use of arms," it said.
"Since ancient times, our nation has deemed war the last resort in handling state-to-state relations. But Manila is living in a fantasy world if it mistakes our forbearance for timidity.
"This is a dangerous delusion. We have never been a trigger-happy nation. But nor have we ever been afraid to fight when necessary."
The Philippines argues the shoal is well within the country's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, as recognized by international law.
But Beijing claims almost the whole of the South China Sea as its historical territory -- including the shoal.