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| Pagasa is one of the disputed Spratly islands |
Vietnam is sending six Buddhist monks to re-establish
abandoned temples on islands that are the subject of a bitter territorial
dispute with China.
The temples were last inhabited in 1975, but were recently
renovated as part of efforts to assert Vietnamese sovereignty over the Spratly
Islands.
China, Vietnam and four other nations claim parts of the
sparsely populated islands in the South China Sea.
The area is believed to hold vast oil and gas reserves.
The monks' delegation is being organised by the local
authorities in the southern province of Khanh Hoa, which exercises
administrative responsibility for the islands on behalf of Vietnam.
It has also paid for the refurbishment of the island
shrines. They include three larger temples and several smaller ones.
The monks have been appointed abbots of the island temples
for a six-month period.
Their duties will include taking care of the shrines and
attending to the spiritual needs of the islands' small population.
The islands have no indigenous population and just a
smattering of military and industrial settlements.
One of the monks, Thich Giac Nghia, told the BBC's
Vietnamese Service he had volunteered to go to the Spratlys
He said he had been inspired to do so while officiating at
services commemorating the deaths of three Vietnamese sailors killed in a 1988
naval skirmish with China near the islands.
Thich Giac Nghia said he would pray for "anyone of the
Vietnamese race" lost at sea in defence of Vietnam's claim to the
archipelago.
"I will offer prayers for them to empower their souls
to reach peace and relieve their sufferings."
Along with China and Vietnam, parts of the islands are
claimed by the the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
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