By Manny Mogato MANILA, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The Philippines welcomed China's move to deploy its navy to seas off Somalia to back international efforts to fight piracy, and said the Southeast Asian region may also benefit from a stronger Chinese navy. As long as China continues to be a good neighbour, its navy could help stabilise the region, Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, Philippine Navy chief, told Reuters in an interview at his Manila Bay headquarters on Friday. In a sign of China's growing global clout, Beijing on Friday sent three naval vessels to help tackle piracy off Somalia in the country's biggest blue water operation outside of the region. Beijing's opaque but quickening military build-up has contributed to a sense of unease in parts of Asia, especially Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its own and has vowed to bring under mainland control, by force if necessary. "I don't think that's a cause of worry for us," Golez said. "China is just protecting its own interest. It's a concern, but it's not a cause of worry for us because they are our good neighbours." China has territorial disputes with four Southeast Asian neighbours -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- and with Taiwan, which Beijing considers as a renegade province. All these nations have conflicting claims over a chain of islands called the Spratlys in the South China Sea. The islands are believed to be rich in deposits of oil and natural gas. "The situation in the Spratlys has improved since 1995 when China built structures on Mischief Reef," Golez said, crediting Southeast Asian states' diplomacy in 2002 to force Beijing to obey a non-binding code of conduct in the disputed territory. Golez, who attended U.S. naval war college in Newport, Rhode Island, said a stronger Chinese navy could help promote peace and stability in the region. He said China has not kept secret its efforts to build a stronger navy as its economy grows faster. "I don't personally feel that China's navy is becoming more assertive," he said, adding Beijing's growing wealth was giving its military more opportunity to increase its role and influence in international affairs. MILITANT THREATS Apart from maritime security concerns in disputed areas and around its oil and gas wells in the Malampaya area, its largest offshore hydrocarbon deposit, Golez said the Philippines has very low piracy problems. "We're more concerned about potential threats from Islamic militant groups crossing into our borders and possible sabotage in the Malampaya area," he said. A new technology-based maritime border control system would be made operational late next month to make it more difficult for small pirates, smugglers, poachers and Islamic militants to cross the country's porous borders in the south, Golez said. Traditional ally Washington and Australia are donating radar, communications equipment and boats, and helping train local troops to operate coast watch stations in the Tawi-tawi chain in the far south to address potential security threats. "This is designed for common threats we faced in that part of the country," Golez said, adding the United States was also helping Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta set up similar maritime border security systems to fight piracy and Islamic militancy in the region. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Jeremy Laurence)
Eleven-year-old orang-utan Sinta holds her baby Natalia at Taman Safari zoo in Pasuruan in Indonesia's East Java province December 25, 2008. Natalia was born early morning on Thursday and 25 orang-utans ...
