Philippines deploys coast guard ship to counter China patrols

This handout photo taken on Jan. 11, 2025 and released on January 12 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship sailing some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometres, 69 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon while being monitored by Philipine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua (not pictured). The Philippines on January 12 accused China of pushing its patrol ships close to the main Filipino landmass as part of Beijing’s alleged illegal grab of most of the South China Sea.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR | Published January 12, 2025

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines said Sunday it had deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea.

Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that went against it, and there have been frequent clashes or tense standoffs between Philippine and Chinese vessels.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to the waters.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111 kilometres) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon.

“Their goal is to normalise such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement.

He later told reporters Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area to challenge the “unlawful” Chinese patrols.

He said the deployment aimed to ensure Chinese patrols “are not normalised, and that this bullying behaviour does not succeed”.

Tarriela said the Chinese coast guard deployed three vessels from its Guangdong and Hainan bases to Philippine waters between December 30 and January 11.

The South China Sea confrontations have sparked concern they could draw the United States, Manila’s long-time security ally, into armed conflict with China.

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SOURCE: www.philstar.com

RELATED: China’s ‘monster’ ship back in disputed waters, Philippines says

BANGKOK POST | Published January 12, 2025

The Philippines said a huge Chinese coast guard ship widely known as the “Monster” has returned to its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, prompting its own coast guard vessel to approach and issue a radio challenge.

A Philippine Coast Guard ship, BRP Teresa Magbanua, approached the 12,000-tonne Chinese patrol ship’s “starboard side at close range, effectively hindering the China Coast Guard vessel’s attempts to move” towards the coastline of the western province of Zambales, spokesman Jay Tarriela said in a post on X late Saturday. The Chinese “Monster” ship has replaced another vessel, CCG 3304, in the area, he said.

The Southeast Asian nation’s coast guard “has consistently communicated over the radio, reminding the Chinese crew that they are unlawfully operating within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone and do not possess any legal authority to conduct maritime patrols,” Tarriela said.

It’s at least the second time this month that the Philippines has challenged the China Coast Guard vessel, CCG 5901, whose presence marks Beijing’s latest move to bolster its expansive claim to most of the South China Sea. Bigger than a US Navy destroyer, CCG-5901 is armed with anti-aircraft guns and fuel storage capacities that allow it to undertake extended missions.

China’s state-run Global Times, in an opinion piece on Friday, said the Philippines’ “baseless accusations against China’s routine patrols near Huangyan Dao fundamentally lack legal and factual support,” referring to the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said last week that it’s “beyond reproach” for the Chinese coast guard to “patrol and conduct law-enforcement activities in relevant waters.”

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SOURCE: www.bangkokpost.com

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