Expert scores ‘new level’ of Chinese aggression
Three China Coast Guard (CCG) ships sailing around Batanes since Thursday have remained in their “bracket” position around the province, the northernmost territory of the Philippines.
Maritime security expert Ray Powell described the development of Chinese ships in that area as “a new level of aggression,” while the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday sent an islander aircraft to challenge the presence of one of the ships, CCG 4304, which was located around 75 nautical miles (139 kilometers) west of Batanes.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the vessel had yet to respond.
The two other ships, CCG 3301 and 3304, were about 70 nautical miles (130 km) off the eastern side of Batanes.
Tarriela said, “adverse weather conditions and the distance [from those two] vessels prevented the aircraft from reaching their locations.”
Powell first noted the location of the three CCG vessels in a post on X late Thursday.
When asked on Friday if the vessels were still in a “bracketing” pattern, he said, “Yes, bracketing in the sense that they are patrolling both east and west sides of Batanes.”
Powell, director of Stanford University’s Project Sealight, said it was the first time he had seen such Chinese maritime patrols east of the Batanes islands, a province at the country’s border with Taiwan in the Balintang Channel, which the Chinese call Bashi Channel.
Previous experience
But Chinese ships have been intruding in the West Philippine Sea and other maritime areas since the 1990s. This prompted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to issue a statement as early as 1992 calling for a maritime code of conduct with China—the same call still being expressed more than three decades later.
On Aug. 2, the PCG monitored a Chinese research vessel in the waters of Cagayan province, also in the Luzon Strait—which forms part of the country’s northeastern waters in the Philippine Sea, an expanse of 5.7-million square kilometers.
There had been earlier reports of Chinese incursions in those waters. But China’s latest presence marks “a new level of aggression,” according to Powell.
CCG 4304 and 3304 are 112-meter Zhouyu class patrol ships, each armed with a 76-millimeter (mm) main gun.
CCG 3301 is a 98-meter Shucha II-class vessel carrying a 37mm main gun.
The image Powell posted on X included the northernmost Batanes island of Mavulis, where the Philippine Navy has a detachment.
Mavulis is only about 100 kilometers away from Taiwan, the self-governing island that China threatens to retake as part of its territory.
The Philippine military regards Batanes as a strategic location and conducted there last year its annual “Balikatan” joint drills with US troops.
New drone found
Earlier this week, fishermen off the coast of Bolinao, Pangasinan, recovered a suspected underwater drone, the PCG said on Friday.
“The fishermen reported the sighting to the Coast Guard Substation Infanta, Pangasinan, and surrendered the object upon arrival at port,” Tarriela said on X. “They also submitted a notarized affidavit detailing the discovery.”
The drone measures about 62 inches in length and 20 inches in width and weighs roughly 100 kilograms, according to Tarriela. Its origin and purpose have yet to be determined.
The discovery is part of a growing number of suspected drones found in Philippine waters. As of May this year, at least six such devices were recovered in different parts of the country.
National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya earlier described the presence of these devices as “alarming,” saying they are used for intelligence and may indicate the extent of foreign espionage activities in the country. —WITH A REPORT FROM GABRYELLE DUMALAG
