The Philippine Coast Guard said that a Chinese Coast Guard ship was escorting a so-called private scientific research vessel, and the Taiwan Coast Guard deployed three ships to monitor it.

Undated photo of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel. Photo: CNA

‘Gray zone’ tactics: Beijing dispatches two Chinese Coast Guard vessels to escort a ‘so-called private scientific research vessel’, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman says

Written by Fion Khan/Reporter with input from CNA

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The Coast Guard Agency (CGA) confirmed yesterday that it has recently deployed three patrol ships to the waters of the exclusive economic zones overlapping Taiwan and the Philippines to monitor three Chinese ships.

Xie Qingqin, deputy director of the Coast Guard, said the agency regularly monitors Chinese ships around Taiwan, and the deployment south to Oran Pi (Eluanbi), the southernmost tip of Taiwan's main island, is carried out in accordance with standard procedures.

He added that the sea area is within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines, extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coastline.

Hsieh was responding when asked about Friday's statement by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Taliera that three Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels were operating near the BRP Teresa Magbanua, which was monitoring three Chinese vessels - a survey vessel and two Chinese Coast Guard vessels.

The Chinese research vessel Jiahaike 7 (Jiahaike 7) has moved north from its lingering position and is approaching the outer limit of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the Laurent Strait, Taliera said in a social media post.

The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed the BRP Teresa Magbanua to track and monitor the three Chinese vessels, he said.

The three Taiwan Coast Guard vessels were located 0.89, 1.18 and 5.45 nautical miles (1.6 kilometers, 2.2 kilometers and 10.1 kilometers) off the port bow of the BRP Teresa Magbanua, he added.

Beijing dispatched two Chinese Coast Guard ships to escort a "so-called private scientific research vessel," Tarriera said. ‘This once again shows that Jiahaike 7 is not acting independently. ’

'The Government's law enforcement fleet will not escort a commercial survey vessel unless the vessel's mission serves the national interest,' he said.

The Jiahaike 7, which 'had camouflaged its automatic identification system position to conceal its whereabouts', was an undersea survey vessel that spent four days in waters that traversed key undersea cable corridors, he said.

The presence of other Maritime Law Enforcement Act vessels in the area shows that concerns about the vessel are not limited to the Philippines, he said, adding that the security of undersea communications infrastructure in the Laurent Strait is important to the entire region.

The Chinese vessel did not apply for permission to conduct marine scientific research in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, he said.

The BRP Teresa Magbanua will remain in the area and continue to monitor the Chinese vessels, he said.

The Philippine Coast Guard will continue to track the movements of the Jiahaike 7 to 'ensure that it does not return to Philippine waters to resume unauthorized activities,' he added.

Asked whether the presence of three Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels in the Bashi Strait indicated coordinated operations between Taiwan and the Philippine Coast Guard, former Philippine Navy Deputy Chief Romel Jude Ong said the deployments should be viewed as separate surveillance missions rather than joint operations.

He added that substantive coordination would pose significant logistical challenges for both sides.

Talking about the strategic importance of the Bashi Strait, he said that in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the Chinese People's Liberation Army might try to seize control of Kaohsiung Port.

Doing so would require control of the Bashi Channel, and the Batanes could become a strategic constraint on such an operation, he said.

This helps explain the Philippines' increased military presence in the north and its decision to redirect some military exercises to the region, he added.

Tarriera has previously said that undersea communications cables connecting the Philippines to Northeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region pass through the waters near the Batan Islands and the Laurent Strait.

He also said that survey vessels lingering at fixed points for long periods of time could pose a risk to the security of undersea communications infrastructure, and that the data collected by these vessels could be used for military purposes.

Military experts have also called the Bashi Strait a key chokepoint connecting the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, as well as an important channel to the east coast of Taiwan. The water depth exceeds 5,000 meters, making it possible for submarines to pass through here undetected.

News source: TAIPEI TIMES

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