Chinese research vessel off Batanes ignores Coast Guard radio challenge

The Chinese vessel Zhong Shan Da was spotted and photographed by personnel aboard Philippine Coast Guard Islander 4177. (PHOTO FROM THE PCG)

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese research vessel suspected of conducting marine research off Itbayat, Batanes did not respond to the radio challenge of the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) aircraft.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said its Islander 4177 was deployed to “monitor and challenge” Chinese research vessel Zhong Shan Da.

As of 8:00 a.m., Zhong Shan Da was last spotted roughly 78.21 nautical miles northeast of Itbayat, Batanes.

“The crew of the PCG Islander attempted to establish radio communication with the vessel multiple times, but there was no response,” Tarriela said in a statement.

“PCG aviators underscored on their radio challenge that the said Chinese vessel lacks the authority to conduct marine scientific research within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines,” he added, noting that its activities constitute a clear violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Philippine Maritime Zones Act.

The research vessel first entered the waters of Batanes on April 2.

Last year, PCG’s BRP Melchora Aquino spotted a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) vessel of China and two other Chinese-flagged vessels in the vicinity of Itbayat, Batanes, during the conduct of Balikatan exercises there.

Unlike this time, the PCG said the PLAN warships and Chinese vessels left after the PCG’s radio challenge.

Itbayat is almost two hundred kilometers away from Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost point of Taiwan or the self-ruled island seen by China as a renegade province subject to reunification.