Metro Manila, December 4 ------ The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it monitored a swarm of over 135 Chinese maritime militia vessels (CMMV) scattered around the Julian Felipe Reef on Saturday, Dec. 2. The PCG first monitored 111 CMMVs on Nov. 13 around the low-tide elevation of the Kalayaan Island Group located 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan. The Armed Forces of the Philippines later revealed that there were 125 vessels. The National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea then ordered the PCG to patrol and document China's illegal presence in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. Last Dec. 2, the PCG deployed two vessels, BRP Sindangan and BRP Cabra, to the area and found that the swarm had grown to 135 Chinese ships.
The PCG vessels issued radio challenges against the Chinese ships but these were ignored. China's latest incursion on Philippine waters adds to the growing tension between the two countries. A maritime law expert said that Beijing has been escalating its aggression against Manila's vessels since 2021.
Last month, the largest contingent of 38 Chinese ships were observed in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal during a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre outpost. An arbitral tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2016 nullified China's sweeping claims over the South China Sea, one that overlapped with the portion Manila calls the West Philippine Sea. Beijing continues to reject this.
Source: cnnphilippines.com
Comments