Philippines and China Commit to Diplomacy in Naval Standoff MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine government said Wednesday it agreed with China to diplomatically resolve a tense standoff involving a Philippine warship and two Chinese surveillance vessels in the disputed South China Sea, the most dangerous confrontation between the sides in recent years. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario said he met with Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing and both reaffirmed their governments' positions that the Scarborough Shoal where the ships are facing off was part of their own country's territory and neither was ready to stand down. Del Rosario said that despite the impasse, "we resolved to seek a diplomatic solution to the issue." The Philippine government said the standoff began when its navy tried to detain Chinese boats fishing in its waters but was stopped by two Chinese surveillance craft. The Chinese Embassy accused the Philippine warship of harassing the fishermen and called for it to leave Chinese territory. The South China Sea is home to a myriad of competing territorial claims, most notably the Spratly Islands south of the shoal, an island chain claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. The barren islands, reefs and coral outcrops are believed to be in rich in oil and gas and the overlapping claims have long been feared as Asia's next flashpoint for armed conflict. Both China and the Philippines flexed their muscles on Wednesday. Del Rosario said that he warned China's ambassador that "if the Philippines is challenged, we are prepared to secure our sovereignty." The standoff began Sunday when a Philippine navy surveillance plane spotted eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored in a lagoon at Scarborough, the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said. On Tuesday, Filipino sailors from the warship boarded the Chinese vessels for an inspection, discovering large amounts of illegally collected coral, giant clams and live sharks inside the first boat. Del Rosario said that the Chinese fishermen had been "engaged in illegal fishing and harvesting of endangered marine species." Two Chinese maritime surveillance ships later approached and positioned themselves between the Philippine warship and the Chinese fishing vessels "thus preventing the arrests of the erring Chinese fishermen," the Philippine statement said. The Chinese Embassy said the fishing boats had taken shelter from a storm in the lagoon, and that Philippine troops including some who were armed went into the lagoon and harassed the fishermen.