Chinese research ship may have collected intel off Babuyan Island

Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 05 was first tracked approximately 37 nautical miles off Sta. Ana coast, prompting the Philippine Coast Guard to dispatch one of its aircraft in the area on Saturday, August 2, 2025.  (Photo from PCG)

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese research ship recently spotted off Babuyan Island may have collected intelligence data while in the area, according to a maritime expert.

Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong 05 was last spotted  14.92 nautical miles (27.6 km) from Babuyan Island, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.

While near the area, it was observed that the Chinese vessel slowed noticeably, according Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency initiative of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University.

“While it was not surveying within the Philippines’ EEZ (exclusive economic zone), it did slow noticeably to between 1-2 knots just outside the Philippines’ territorial sea west of the Babuyan Island, indicating it may have been taking the opportunity of its transit to collect intelligence while it was in the area,” Powell told Inquirer in a message on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday night.

Powell noted that Xiang Yang Hong 05 transited the Philippines’ EEZ through the Luzon Strait in June before conducting a 40-day survey east of Guam. It then returned through the Luzon Strait last week.

Luzon Strait is a crucial passage that connects the Philippine Sea with the West Philippine Sea.

This body of water between the country’s northernmost province of Batanes and the self-ruled island of Taiwan also includes the Bashi Channel to the north, the Balintang Channel in the center, and the Babuyan Channel to the south. /gsg