3 Chinese Coast Guard ships spotted in PH waters off Zambales

MANILA, Philippines — Three vessels of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) were spotted in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Zambales, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Sunday.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS) affairs, said in a statement that the PCG vessel BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) “continues to actively challenge and block the advance of CCG vessel CCG-21562.”

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He also noted that the PCG is monitoring the other two CCG ships—CCG-3305 and CCG-4305—via radar in the waters off Zambales.

“Despite being significantly smaller, BRP Cabra has successfully maintained a protective buffer of 85 to 100 nautical miles between the Chinese vessels and the outer boundary of the Philippines’ [EEZ],” Tarriela said.

Tarriela stressed that the PCG has “repeatedly asserted that the presence of these [CCG] vessels constitutes an illegal incursion into Philippine sovereign waters, in clear violation of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award that invalidated China’s excessive maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea.”

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The PCG official said the coast guard will continue to defend the sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction of the country, asserting that it “will not tolerate any attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo along the Luzon coastline through encroachment.”

“BRP Cabra’s sustained presence demonstrates our resolute commitment to upholding international law while pursuing peaceful and rules-based solutions,” Tarriela said.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) issued a ruling affirming that the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the WPS.

The PCA noted that the so-called “nine-dash line” asserted by China is “invalid.”

“Having found that certain areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, the Tribunal found that China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by (a) interfering with Philippine fishing and petroleum exploration, (b) constructing artificial islands, and (c) failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone,” the tribunal said in its 2016 decision.

The PCA issued the ruling after several months of hearings and submission of documents, which China refused to attend and subsequently refused to recognize. /jpv