Jeremy Barns, the director of Manila’s National Museum, said the research vessel had been in Scarborough Shoal for three weeks and had originally planned to stay in the area for about a month. He said the ship was still in the area even after being warned off by the Chinese ships. “It’s still there. The Philippine Coast Guard is doing its best to secure the vessel,” he said.
马尼拉的国家博物馆馆长杰里米•巴恩斯(Jeremy Barns)表示，这艘考古研究船在斯卡伯勒浅滩作业已有3周，而原计划在该地区停留大约一个月。他表示，该船仍在原地，即便中方船只已警告其离开。“船仍在那里。菲律宾海岸警卫队正尽力保障该船，”他表示。
Mr Barns said he thought it was ironic that a research project to highlight the area’s “shared maritime history” had found itself in the middle of a diplomatic dispute between China and the Philippines. “We think the area is an ancient trade route, and we’ve initially found signs of sunken ships from China, other Asian countries and even western countries,” he said.
巴恩斯表示，他认为具有讽刺意味的是，以该地区“共同海上历史”为主题的一个研究项目，竟被卷入中国与菲律宾的外交争端。“我们认为该地区处于一条古代贸易航线上，我们已发现了中国、亚洲其他国家乃至西方国家沉没船只的初步迹象，”他表示。
In spite of the fresh protest, the Philippine foreign secretary, Albert del Rosario, said Manila does not seek to escalate the impasse and is appealing for China to join the Philippines in submitting the dispute for settlement by the UN. “The whole world knows that China has myriad more ships and aircraft than the Philippines,” he said in a statement. “In pursuing a peaceful settlement of the Scarborough Shoal issue, we fully intend to humbly invite our Chinese friends to join us in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea,” the UN body that decides on maritime claims.
尽管提出了新的抗议，但菲律宾外交部长阿尔伯特•德尔罗萨里奥(Albert del Rosario)表示，马尼拉方面无意使僵持局势升级，并呼吁中国与菲律宾一起将这场纠纷提交联合国解决。“全世界都知道中国的舰船和战机比菲律宾多得多，”他在一份声明中表示。“为了寻求斯卡伯勒浅滩问题的和平解决，我们完全有意谦恭地邀请我们的中国朋友与我们一起将其提交国际海洋法法庭(ITLOS)。”该法庭是裁决海事主张的联合国机构。
The Philippine government has invited China to the international court before, but the Chinese have always refused, preferring to resolve such disputes bilaterally.
菲律宾政府以往曾邀请中方将纠纷提交国际法庭解决，但中方始终拒绝，坚持要在双边框架内解决此类纠纷。
