Another Chinese research ship sighted off Cagayan

Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard for the West Philippine Sea, answers questions from the members of the media during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City on Feb. 22, 2025. —INQUIRER.net file photo/Arnel Tacson

MANILA, Philippines — After the recent sightings of Chinese research vessels near Itbayat Island in Batanes and in the West Philippine Sea, another one has been spotted off Cagayan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Wednesday.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said that Chinese ship Dian Ke 1 Hao was sighted about 46 kilometers off the coastal town of Sta. Ana in the province.

It was the second Chinese research ship to enter the country’s northern waters this month.

READ: PCG deploys aircraft to challenge Chinese research ship near Batanes

“But we are not yet certain whether it is conducting marine scientific research because, unlike the other research vessel that we monitored in Batanes, it is currently navigating continuously,” Tarriela said in a television interview.

He added that the PCG, through its aircraft, has been monitoring the research ship until the time it “eventually just [passes] through our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).”

Tarriela also reported that Zhong Shan Da Xue, the Chinese research ship that was earlier seen off Itbayat in Batanes, left the area on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the Chinese research ship Song Hang, which was suspected of gathering intelligence data, loitered for days in the West Philippine Sea.

On April 3, it was spotted 66 km off Mapun Island in Tawi-Tawi province in the Sulu Sea.

Gone fishing

When challenged by the PCG’s BRP Malapascua, the crew of Song Hang said they were only transiting through the Sibutu Passage on their way to the Indian Ocean, where they would supposedly conduct “fishing activities.”

US maritime expert Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a program of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation that keeps track of Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea, earlier told the Inquirer that Song Hang entered the Philippine EEZ north of Luzon on March 29. It left China on March 26.

“The Song Hang is considered a fisheries research vessel, but we generally assume all [People’s Republic of China] survey ships are dual-purpose and can collect intelligence for the People’s Liberation Army,” Powell said.

In April 2024, the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported the presence of three Chinese research vessels at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in addition to a similar ship found lingering in the waters off Viga in Catanduanes province.

A month earlier, two Chinese research vessels were also spotted near the Philippine Rise, or Benham Rise. President Marcos then remarked that their presence was of “great concern” and a “clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory.”

Under the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act signed by Marcos in November 2024, foreign ships or aircraft, including marine scientific research or survey ships, cannot conduct oceanographic or hydrographic surveys or any other research or survey activities “unless they have obtained prior permission from the appropriate agency” in the Philippines.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Tarriela reminded Filipinos of their “patriotic duty to stand firm and fight for the West Philippine Sea” as the country commemorated Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor).

“It is not merely because we owe it to our forefathers who gave their lives for our independence, but we must understand that it is our obligation to hold the line for the next generation of Filipinos to continue our fight,” he said.

False narratives

Filipinos, according to Tarriela, can best show their support for the government’s fight to protect its maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea by ensuring that fake news, misinformation, and disinformation regarding the country’s claims in the resource-rich waterway do not proliferate.

“If these false narratives dominate the information space, they could divide our united stand as one country and, most importantly, shape a defeatist mindset in the next generation of Filipinos,” he said.

The AFP, meanwhile, completed on Wednesday a rotation and resupply (Rore) mission to Filipino troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal without any Chinese interference.

“The Rore was carried out in close coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard and concluded without any untoward incident,” it said in a statement.