22/01/2016
Arab Times
Share:
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers line up during a winter training drill in Heihe in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province.MANILA, Jan 21, (RTRS): Filipino protesters plan a second trip to disputed islands in the South China Sea, this time staying a month, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, after China flew a planeload of tourists to an artificial island it has built in the area. China claims almost the entire energy-rich South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes each year.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. Last week, Beijing allowed in its first group of tourists, most of them family of soldiers stationed on man-made Fiery Cross in the Spratly Islands, as it began test flights on the 3,000-metre (10,000- ft) runway
