MANILA, Philippines — While the Philippines was busy grappling with heavy monsoon rains and flooding, a Chinese survey vessel illegally operated within Panatag or Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine Coast Guard said yesterday.
“For 25 days, the 76-meter Chinese survey vessel Haiyang Dizhi Shihao has been operating inside our exclusive economic zone – three weeks of it inside the 12 nautical miles territorial sea of Bajo de Masinloc,” PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela reported, referring to Panatag.
Tarriela said this was spotted with the help of Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection program. He noted that the ship switched off its automatic identification system to avoid detection at sea.
The research vessel, operated by the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, is equipped for deep-sea drilling and drilled 302.07 meters beneath the seafloor in 2023, Tarriela said.
“This is the same vessel that spent seven weeks surveying inside Indonesia’s EEZ in the North Natuna Sea in 2021,” he added.
The ship was escorted by the China Coast Guard before it withdrew from the waters ahead of the ASEAN summit, he added.
Tarriela also flagged the timing of the vessel deployment, as it operated when the Philippines was dealing with severe weather conditions.
“While the Philippines has been battered by typhoons and the monsoon these past weeks, China moved its survey vessel in at precisely the moment our vessels were least able to intercept it,” the PCG spokesman said.
According to Tarriela, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there was no permit for the vessel to conduct its marine scientific research.
Meanwhile, the Department of National Defense denounced yesterday China’s latest efforts to sow disinformation and again claim that Batanes is part of China.
In a statement, DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong said Batanes is not and has never been part of Chinese territory.
China, through its so-called academic scholars, first claimed two months ago that Batanes belongs to China by way of Taiwan.
Through an opinion piece published by state-run Global Times on Thursday, the argument was repeated.
Relatedly, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. met with retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio and retired Philippine Navy rear admiral Rommel Jude Ong yesterday for a discussion on the Law of the Sea and the assertion of Philippine maritime rights.