The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday reported a recent incident of “close-distance maneuvering” by a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel in the disputed South China Sea that “constrained” the movement of a Philippine ship sailing nearby.
The March 2 incident took place during the PCG’s maritime patrol operations around the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, the PCG said in a news release.
It was yet unclear whether the Philippines had lodged a diplomatic protest for the incident.
Photo: AFP / Philippine Coast Guard
The PCG said it had to wait for approval from the country’s National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea before making the incident public.
The incident involved a CCG vessel with bow number 3305 that conducted close-distance maneuvering over an area of about 19.2m in the direction of Philippine vessel BRP Malabrigo, the PCG said.
“This constrained the maneuvering space of BRP Malabrigo — a clear violation of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea,” the PCG said.
The PCG had asked the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to help address the issue through “rules-based and peaceful approaches,” PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu said.
The department and the Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China lays claim to most of the waters within the “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, which is also contested by Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Abu said it was the fourth reported incident of close-distance maneuvering involving CCG and Philippine vessels in the Scarborough Shoal since May last year.
Despite the risks, Abu said the deployment of Philippine assets and personnel to waters within the country’s exclusive economic zones would continue.
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