3 China Coast Guard ships on ‘unusual track’ off Batanes, expert notes

FILE PHOTO: China Coast Guard’s 3301 off Zambales. PHOTO FROM THE PCG

Three China Coast Guard (CCG) ships were monitored in the waters off Batanes province as they took what a maritime security expert considered a “very unusual track”.

As of 7:44 a.m. Thursday, CCG ships with hull numbers 3301 and 3304 were spotted passing through the Bashi Channel while another CCG ship with hull number 4304 appeared to be on patrol 70 nautical miles northwest off Batanes, according to SeaLight director Ray Powell, who regularly tracks Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea.

“I almost never see the CCG near Batanes, and this is the first time I’ve seen any pass through the Bashi Channel in my years of monitoring,” Powell, program head of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.

“Very unusual track for CCG—not clear where they’re headed,” he told Inquirer in a message on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.

‘Legal but aggressive’

Powell said the activities of three CCG ships were technically legal, but their purpose aroused suspicion.

“The transit of CCG 3301 and 3304 is highly unusual but legal under international law,” Powell said. “Meanwhile, CCG 4304 specifically has been loitering … within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone since last night, which is also legal but aggressive—I would classify it as an intrusive patrol.”

Bashi Channel is a strategic waterway between Batanes’ Mavulis Island and Taiwan’s Orchid Island that connects South China Sea and Pacific Ocean.

On Sunday, a Chinese research ship also passed by Babuyan Island which is also near the channel, and Powell previously said the vessel may have collected intelligence while in the area.