WE ADD our voice to the call of the Philippine Coast Guard on the international community to take a stand against China’s escalating maritime aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
Last weekend, China’s 12,000-ton vessel, code-named The Monster – which replaced another vessel previously confronted by the Philippines’ BRP Teresa Magbanua – was back in Luzon waters in a show of force.
The Monster’ was spotted 97 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales, a bellicose sail and within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, but thanks to BRP Teresa Magbanua which blocked it from moving closer to Philippine shores.
Commodore Jay Tristan Tarriela, the PCG spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, is on the right seaward sail when he cautioned that China’s truculent maneuvers are not just a threat to the Philippines but also to other nations with claims in the strategic international waters like Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
We underline our concurrence to Tarriela’s unambiguous observation that “(China’s) goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo and ultimately operationalizing their illegal narrative,which has consistently been part of the Chinese playbook.”
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the National Maritime Council, himself earlier said the Philippine government views the monster ship’s presence within the Philippines’ EEZ “with concern.”
The erratic movements of Chinese vessels within the Philippines’ EEZ “indicate (they) are not engaged in innocent passage,” the PCG correctly said, adding they were “conducting a law enforcement operation, claiming jurisdiction over these waters as belonging to the People’s Republic of China.”
In the afternoon of Jan. 8, the PCG said China’s monster ship left the coastline of Zambales and was set to be replaced by China Coast Guard-3103, which left Guangdong Province on Jan. 7.
But on Jan. 9, the PCG noted China Coast Guard vessel-3103 was being replaced by vessel 3304, which was “illegally sailing” about 70-80 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales on Jan. 10.
On Saturday, the PCG said BRP Teresa Magbanua gradually pushed away vessel 3304 from the Zambales coastline, prompting Beijing to redeploy its monster ship in an attempt to outmaneuver the Philippine ship.
“Despite the imposing size of CCG-5901, the PCG vessel has boldly approached its starboard side at a close range, effectively hindering the China Coast Guard vessel’s attempts to move towards the Zambales coastline,” the PCG said.
What is Beijing up to in deploying all these vessels within the EEZ of the Philippines?
Tarriela said China could be emboldened to infringe upon the EEZ of other nations if the international community remains passive amid the “illegal deployment” of China’s maritime forces.
He hit the nail on the head, and we agree fully.