Chinese aircraft carrier, escorts monitored in N. Luzon waters
CLOSELY WATCHED The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong as seen about 4 kilometers (2.23 nautical miles) southwest of Babuyan Island on April 22. —Photo released by the Philippine Navy on Thursday.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy on Thursday said nine vessels of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, including the aircraft carrier Shandong, had been spotted in waters covered by the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in northern Luzon since April 22.
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, said the military last monitored the Shandong while being escorted by six warships and two support vessels about 333 kilometers off the coastal town of Aparri, Cagayan, on Wednesday night.
“They were almost within the outer boundaries of our exclusive economic zone on the western part of Cagayan,” Trinidad told reporters on the sidelines of a maritime security symposium in Manila.
The Chinese ships were moving from west to east.
In a separate interview, Capt. John Percie Alcos, the Navy spokesperson, said the Shandong was spotted about 4 km southwest of Babuyan Island, well within the Philippine archipelagic waters, at 9:36 a.m. on April 22.
Around 11:47 a.m. the same day, a Type 815A Chinese electronic surveillance ship (AGI-797) was also seen about 61 km from Dalupiri Island in Calayan, Cagayan, or about 72 km northwest of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.
“This is quite close, but these are allowed under the 1982 Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) under the right of innocent passage, provided that it is continuous and expeditious,” Trinidad said.
No reply to radio challenge
According to him, the Philippines “always challenges” foreign warships passing through its territorial waters and EEZ, but “this time we didn’t get any reply.”
“While the normal procedure is for a warship or foreign ship to reply, there are some instances [in which] they do not reply. This is one particular instance that the Shandong carrier battle group did not give any reply at the moment it was challenged,” he said.
The presence of the Chinese warships was reported as the Philippines and the United States kicked off the annual “Balikatan” joint military exercises, with this year’s drills mostly being held in northern Luzon, the country’s tip near Taiwan.
“We do not speculate on the intention of their warships in our waters; what we do is we challenge them, we monitor them, to ensure that they traverse continuously and expeditiously,” Trinidad said.
In August last year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines also monitored the presence of the Shandong in the Philippine Sea, the body of water on the country’s eastern side, opposite the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Navy confirms presence of Chinese aircraft carrier off Babuyan Island
The Chinese aircraft carrier passed through the Balintang Channel, which is located between the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes and the Babuyan Islands in Cagayan.
Research ship
In a post on X on Wednesday, US maritime expert Ray Powell reported the continued presence of Chinese research ship Zhong Shan Da Xue near the Bashi Channel between the Philippines and Taiwan.
Powell noted that the ship had remained in the area for three weeks “despite repeated radio challenges from the Philippine Coast Guard for surveying illegally in the country’s exclusive economic zone.”
