The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday issued radio challenges to Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels off the coast of Batanes.
PCG Spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela said they have been actively monitoring three CCG vessels—3304, 3301, and 4304—in the waters off Batanes since Thursday after they turned up in Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection system.
“In light of their irregular movements, the PCG deployed an aircraft to conduct Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) patrols in the northern region to challenge and document the CCG vessels’ movements,” Tarriela said.
The PCG Islander departed from Manila on Friday morning en route to the northernmost province of the Philippines.
Upon locating the CCG-4304, the crew issued radio challenges, emphasizing that the vessel lacks legal authority to operate within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)—approximately 75 nautical miles west off the coast of Sabtang, Batanes.
Unfortunately, the CCG vessel did not respond. Consequently, adverse weather conditions and the distance to the other two CCG vessels (3304 and 3301) prevented the aircraft from reaching their locations.
“The leadership of the PCG remains resolute and is prepared to deploy additional resources should the CCG vessels continue their presence or approach closer the Batanes coastline,” Tarriela said.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday night, SeaLight director Ray Powell described the movement of CCG 4304 as following a “bracketing pattern,” where vessels are deployed on opposite sides.
“I think this is really significant, as I’ve never seen CCG conduct an intrusive patrol [on] the east side of the Philippine archipelago before,” said Powell, program head of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.
Since Thursday, the CCG ships have been monitored passing through the Bashi Channel in what Powell described as a “very unusual” track.
“I almost never see the CCG near Batanes, and this is the first time I’ve seen any pass through the Bashi Channel in my years of monitoring,” Powell noted.
The Bashi Channel, a strategic waterway between Batanes’ Mavulis Island and Taiwan’s Orchid Island, connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
