West PH Sea: Warships deployed to monitor China survey vessel off Palawan

This map is not to scale and is for visual representation purposes only. Graphics by: Samuel Yap / INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has deployed a coast guard ship and three warships to monitor the presence of a Chinese research vessel conducting a survey off Palawan, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said on Tuesday.

According to SeaLight director Ray Powell, six militia ships were escorting the Haiyang Dizhi Hao research vessel just 27 nautical miles away from the shores of Palawan on Monday. The research fleet, however, is still outside Palawan’s 12-nautical mile territorial sea, a red line that, once crossed by Beijing, could be seen as a direct threat to Manila’s sovereignty.

Nevertheless, Trinidad said the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Western Command and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed three warships and a coast guard vessel in the area, respectively.

READ: West Philippine Sea: Largest presence of Chinese ships logged – Navy

“It so happened when they got to the vicinity, the research vessel was not there anymore,” Trinidad said in a regular AFP briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.

Trinidad said that as of Tuesday, the research vessel and its escorts were heading southwest, according to the latest tracking data.

Powell, program head of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, noted that Beijing should have asked Manila’s permission when it surveyed its exclusive economic zone per the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or Unclos.

READ: West PH Sea: China ‘monster’ ship came much nearer to El Nido, Palawan – PCG

He also said that there was “no obvious survey pattern emerging yet” on the research vessel’s track.

“I should note that the ships have not yet entered into a typical ‘lawnmower’ survey pattern, so it may be they are simply there to send a message that China claims these waters—much as they did last year to Vietnam,” he said.