CHINA yesterday defended its move to send a patrol ship to the disputed Spratly Islands, saying it was not a violation of an agreement to maintain peace in the area.

The vessel was a ?fishery patrol ship, not a warship,? Hua Ye, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Manila, said in a statement.

?I don?t think the Chinese side has done anything or violated the Declaration of the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea.?

That 2002 declaration called on all claimants to the Spratlys to refrain from any action that could heighten tensions, including any military build-up or construction work.

The statement came a day after China?s Beijing News said a converted naval patrol vessel had been dispatched to what it claims are its exclusive maritime zones covering the disputed Spratlys and Paracels island.

The report said the ship would assist Chinese fishing boats and transport vessels, but the move is largely seen here as China flexing its military might against the smaller claimants.

?The Philippines adheres to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and urges all parties to adhere to this as well,? Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Eduardo Malaya said.

Believed to sit atop vast mineral and oil deposits, the Spratlys is a chain of atolls and reefs in the South China Sea.

Apart from China and the Philippines, it is also being claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The Paracels are claimed by China, which now occupies them, as well as by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Deputy presidential spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said the United Nations would be the best venue for settling territorial disputes. ?Diplomacy is the key first defense of any civilized nation,? she said.

?We leave that issue to the United Nations because our position is that our baseline [law] is consistent with the provisions of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea.?

China has protested the signing of the Baseline Law, which classifies the disputed Spratlys and the Scarborough Shoal as ?regime islands under the Republic of the Philippines.?

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue summoned Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady days after the bill became a law, and Beijing sent a fishery patrol boat to the Spratlys over the weekend.

Beijing sent the patrol ship after the United States sent heavily armed destroyers to escort US surveillance ships operating in the South China Sea after a tense naval standoff last week.

The US claims its mapping ship Impeccable was operating legally when it was harassed by Chinese boats in international waters about 120 kilometers off China?s southern island province of Hainan. China?s foreign ministry has said the US claim isn?t true.

The Philippine Navy said it was monitoring Chinese vessels in the Spratlys, but added the presence of a patrol boat ws no cause for alarm.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said the different claimants were periodically sending patrol boats to the area, an activity that was generally tolerated.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon played down the Chinese deployment of a patrol boat, saying it was not necessarily in reaction to the country?s Baseline Law but a likely a reaction to its standoff with the United States.

Two lawmakers in the House urged the government to use diplomacy to defuse tension in the South China Sea, but deplored China?s deployment of a modern patrol boat. Joyce Pangco Pa?ares, Michael Caber, Fel V. Maragay, Roy Pelovello, Jaime Pilapil, AFP