China’s ‘monster’ ship still at Sabina Shoal — PCG

THE CHINESE Coast Guard’s (CCG) biggest ship has never left Sabina Shoal in the South Sea since July 3, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

It was still anchored at the shoal as of Wednesday morning and was just half-a-kilometer away from the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua, spokesman Jay Tristan Tarriela told a news briefing.

“We have reported since last week that we monitored the presence of the CCG monster ship inside Escoda Shoal, anchored at a distance around 600 yards away from BRP Teresa Magbanua,” he said.

“I would like to confirm that as of 7:30 a.m., the last image that I got from our Coast Guard personnel, the CCG monster ship remains to be inside Escoda Shoal. It never departed and is still anchored there,” he added.

Mr. Tarriela’s report went against that of Philippine Navy spokesman Roy Vincent Trinidad, who on Tuesday said the Chinese ship had left the shoal. He added that the China Coast Guard had not sent a replacement.

The shoal is about 140 kilometers off the Philippine province of Palawan and within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The 97-meter BRP Teresa Magbanua, the PCG’s largest vessel, has been stationed at the shoal since April amid China’s reclamation activities and the presence of its maritime militia vessels there.

The PCG vessel has been challenging the Chinese ship’s presence in the area since July 3.

Mr. Tarriela said the PCG had spotted another Chinese Coast Guard ship near Lubang Island, which is just 40 kilometers west of Calatagan, Batangas province south of Manila.

The ship was moving toward Palawan province, he added.

The Philippines last week marked the anniversary of a 2016 arbitral ruling that voided China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, with statements of support from various countries. 

PCG’s Mr. Tarriela earlier this month said Manila had used Canada’s “dark vessel” technology in detecting China’s 12,000-ton ship.

Mr. Trinidad on Tuesday said they had detected four China Coast Guard vessels at Second Thomas Shoal, which is about 67 kilometers west of Sabina.

Also on Wednesday, senators and congressmen in a bicameral conference committee approved a bill that seeks to set up three Philippine maritime zones and territories in the South China Sea, according to the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Francis N. Tolentino and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Martin D. Pimentel III led the Senate contingent to reconcile disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House bills, it said in a statement.

“The joint meeting of the bill’s authors and champions from the House and Senate today also clarified the extent of our internal waters and archipelagic waters, aligning its definitions with our Constitution and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Negros Occidental Rep. Jose Francisco B. Benitez, who represented the House in the meeting, said in a separate statement.

He said the measure would protect the country’s internal waters from illegal foreign entry.

Under the bill, the Philippines can impose a fine of as much as $1 million (P58 million) on foreign actors who build artificial islands, conduct marine research and destroy the Philippine marine environment inside maritime zones.

“The passage of this law will strengthen our assertion of maritime entitlements over the West Philippine Sea, which is part of our exclusive economic zone,” Mr. Benitez said, referring to areas of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ EEZ. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and John Victor D. Ordoñez