Obviously not content with its gressive gunboat diplomacy in the West Philippine Sea marked by its use of water cannons and military-grade lasers, and even deliberate ramming of our Coast Guard vessels as part of its dubious claim of ownership of practically the entire South China sea through a fictional “ten-dash line”, China appears to be resorting to yet another move that betrays its intent to undermine our sovereignty over our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
According to the Philippine Coast Guard, three Chinese research vessels were recently spotted in our eastern seaboard near our EEZ.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, identified the ships as Xiang Yang Hong 3, Jia Geng, and Xiang Yang Hong 10. The PCG official told media that last November 30, the vessels were located 210 nautical miles – or roughly 389 kilometers (kms) – east of Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte.
“We are still monitoring the movement of the Chinese research vessels because, at some point, they entered our exclusive economic zone in the past days,” he explained. The Jia Geng was spotted 200 NM (370 kms) east of Davao Oriental on November 14. The Xiang Yang Hong 3 was monitored 257 NM (476 kms) northeast of Santa Ana, Cagayan on November 17. The Xiang Yang Hong 10 was spotted 200 NM (370 kms) east of Siargao Island on November 20 to November 29.
Also on November 29, the Xiang Yang Hong 3 was again located at 211 NM (391 kms) east of Siargao Island as well. The Xiang Yang Hong 3 was previously reported seen near the Philippine Rise with another research ship, the Zhang Jian, on November 4.
The Chinese ships were located through their automatic identification systems (AIS). Even if ships turned off their AIS, the PCG could locate them by accessing the Dark Vessel Detection Program of the Canadian government.
What could have been the objective of these Chinese research vessels, Tarriela asked. “We can only speculate, as long as we do not know the true intentions of the People’s Republic of China. There must be a compelling reason for the Chinese government to deploy three research vessels all at the same time in one particular area.”
If the ships were conducting marine scientific research, the PCG official said they should have obtained the approval of the Philippine government, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs.
So why didn’t Beijing bother to obtain the approval of Philippine authorities for the presence of their research vessels in our EEZ? Is it because they are now a big economic and military power in this part of the world that they can simply ignore international law and blatantly violate the territorial integrity of other countries, including ours?
