Chinese fishing boats leave disputed shoal in S China Sea

Eight Chinese fishing boats at the centre of a standoff between Philippine and Chinese navies have pulled out of a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, officials said Saturday. Only a Chinese surveillance ship and a Philippine coast guard rescue vessel remain in the area of Scarborough Shoal off the Philippines' north-western coast, DPA reported. "Tension has decreased in the area," said Lieutenant General Anthony Alcantara, a regional Philippine military commander. "The standoff has been diffused." But he said authorities were unable to retrieve corals, giant clams and whale sharks allegedly poached by the fishing boats first spotted in Scarborough Shoal on April 8. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the departure of the vessels without confiscation of the poached species was "regrettable." Del Rosario said officials had been willing to allow the Chinese boats to return home only after the illegally harvest was confiscated by Philippine authorities.