‘Monster’ still in PH waters, ignores PCG call to leave
China’s biggest coast guard vessel maintained its “illegal presence” in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and has ignored requests to leave the area, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Monday.
The PCG’s BRP Cabra continued to shadow the movements of “The Monster,” China Coast Guard (CCG) 5901, with both vessels asserting each other’s territorial claims through radio challenges. As of Monday, the Chinese ship was 148 kilometers (80 nautical miles) away from Lubang Island, Occidental Mindoro.
“Observations reveal that the CCG vessel’s erratic movements indicate it is not engaged in innocent passage but rather asserts that it is conducting a law enforcement operation, claiming jurisdiction over these waters as belonging to the People’s Republic of China,” PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said in a statement.
The PCG told the Chinese ship in a patrol on Sunday: “China Coast Guard 5901, under Republic Act 12064 [or the] Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 2016 Arbitral Award, you do not possess any legal authority to patrol within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.”
“You are directed to depart immediately and to notify us of your intentions,” it said.
In response, the Chinese ship said it was “performing law enforcement duties on the jurisdictional waters of the People’s Republic of China,” dismissing the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling as “illegal and invalid.”
‘Measured actions’
“I hope you will safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea and maintain mutual trust and cooperation between our countries with concrete actions,” it said.
The PCG deployed BRP Cabra and two aircraft on Saturday after the Chinese ship was spotted 100 km (54 nautical miles) from Capones Island facing the coast of Zambales. The 12,000-ton Monster dwarfed the 330-ton Philippine ship by about 36 times the size of the Cabra.
Tarriela said an Islander aircraft will support the BRP Cabra to document “any potential incidents, including intentional ramming by the CCG vessel, and ensure that immediate rescue operations can be initiated if needed.”
“The PCG will continue to take deliberate and appropriately measured actions to challenge the illegal presence of the Chinese coast guard until it ceases its violations of the Philippines’ sovereign rights in these waters,” he said.
Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson for the National Security Council, called the Monster’s presence “obviously… an act of intimidation, coercion and aggression against the Philippines.”
“As of now, since our policy is we do not want to take provocative action, what we intend to do is to take the high moral ground at all times [by] shadowing and closely watching its activities,” Malaya said in an interview over government television.
“We have all our assets pointed at this monster ship at the moment any time that it performs any illegal act in the sense such as a provocative action, it will have a corresponding response from the [Philippine] government,” he said.
He also dismissed China’s claim that it was “conducting patrols within their area.”
“No country ever supports that claim, and nothing of this sort is written in international law,” Malaya said.
‘Driving circles’
According to Ray Powell, director of Stanford University’s SeaLight project, which tracks South China Sea activities through satellite imaging, the Chinese vessel arrived near Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Jan. 1 to boost Beijing’s control over the maritime area. Three other CCG ships and seven maritime militia vessels were also at the shoal.
Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc lies 222 km (120 nautical miles) from the mainland west of Luzon, well within the country’s EEZ. China calls the shoal Huangyan Dao although it is nearly 926 km (500 nautical miles) from the nearest Chinese territory of the island province of Hainan.
Beijing took hold of the shoal in 2012 after a two-month standoff with the Philippine Navy, prompting Manila to file a case against China before an international arbitral tribunal the following year.
The court ruled in 2016 that Beijing’s so-called nine-dash-line claim had no basis in international law, but China rejected the ruling.
As of Monday, Powell said the BRP Cabra was “driving circles” around The Monster at 5 to 9 knots while the Chinese ship was “lumbering at 2 to 5 knots” some 101 to 130 km (55 to 70 nautical miles) from the Luzon coast.
