2 US warships deployed off Panatag days after Chinese ships’ collision

‘FREEDOMOF NAVIGATION’ OPS The USS Higgins is one of the two American Navy vessels operating some 56 kilometers (30 nautical miles) off Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Wednesday, according to the Philippine Coast Guard, which released this photo.

MANILA, Philippines — Two United States warships were seen deployed off Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Wednesday, days after the collision of Chinese ships in the area.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the USS Higgins (DDG-76) and USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) have been monitored at a distance of 56 kilometers (30 nautical miles) away from Panatag Shoal.

Earlier, spokesperson Senior Captain He Tiecheng of the China People’s Liberation Army-Southern Theater Command was quoted in a Global Times report as saying that the PLA had “mobilized forces to monitor, issue warnings and expel” the USS Higgins from Panatag.

But Tarriela said that, according to the US Navy, they were just conducting freedom of navigation operations under international law.

READ: Chinese ships collide while pursuing PH vessel

Collision, search and rescue

On Monday, China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 3104 chased the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Suluan and performed a risky maneuver that led to the CCG vessel colliding with a Chinese navy warship.

Both ships sustained damage, with the CCG 3104’s forecastle badly crushed.

The BRP Suluan managed to evade the maneuver.

At least four personnel were on the front of the CCG 3104, but they were not seen after the collision and were assumed by Filipino personnel to have fallen overboard, according to Tarriela.

A day after the collision, one CCG ship and eight Chinese maritime militia vessels were seen in a “parallel sweep” track, which was indicative of a search and rescue (SAR) operation, according to Ray Powell, founder of maritime tracker SeaLight.

By around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, China appeared to have finished its presumed SAR operations, noted Powell.

To date, there were five CCG ships and 14 militia vessels “mostly within a 25-30 nautical mile radius” from Panatag Shoal, said the SeaLight founder.

Meanwhile, the BRP Teresa Magbanua remains some 93 km (50 nautical miles) from the shoal.

The incident marked a “significant escalation” in tensions between the two countries, said Denny Roy, a senior fellow of the Hawaii-based think tank East-West Center.

“In my view, the Chinese employing a destroyer to threaten to ram a Philippine vessel is already a significant escalation,” Roy told the Inquirer in an email interview.

“If the situation was reversed and a Philippine Navy ship was harassing a Chinese fishing boat, the Chinese side would be incensed,” he added.

‘Drastic maneuvering’

In another development, Tarriela said that a Chinese fighter jet on Wednesday shadowed a PCG aircraft conducting a maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight over the area, flying dangerously close to the plane.

The PCG’s Cessna Caravan was intercepted by a People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force J-15 fighter jet above the waters off Panatag, Tarriela said in a press briefing in Manila.

Tarriela also reported that the PCG aircraft was deployed at 7:30 a.m., and the Chinese fighter jet tailed it for about 20 minutes. It flew to its left, right, and directly overhead—at times as close as 500 feet laterally and 200 feet vertically.

“The mere fact that the jet fighter was doing drastic maneuvering without following a safe path made it more dangerous,” Tarriela said.

He stressed that this was not the first time Chinese forces had harassed PCG aircraft during MDA flights over Panatag Shoal, recalling past incidents involving a PLA Navy helicopter.

However, he said this is the first time this year that a fighter jet has intercepted an MDA flight conducted by the PCG.

‘Exclusion zone enforcement’

During the flight, the PCG also monitored four CCG vessels, two PLA Navy ships, six Chinese maritime militia vessels, and the two US Navy warships, all near Zambales.

China pushes what experts have called “exclusion zone enforcement” in Panatag Shoal, flouting the 2016 arbitral ruling that declared the area a traditional fishing ground for the Philippines, China, and Vietnam.

Since the effective takeover of the shoal by the Chinese in 2012, at least two CCG ships have been stationed near the shoal’s lagoon at all times, local authorities say, preventing the PCG and Filipino fishers from approaching. /cb