ABOUT 50 Chinese maritime militia vessels were monitored “swarming” at Rozul Reef, a feature in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday.
In a press briefing, PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said the presence of the Chinese vessels at the reef, about 130 nautical miles from mainland Palawan, was confirmed by a PCG aircraft on Wednesday.
He said the PCG received reports that the Chinese began swarming at the reef last Tuesday, prompting the aerial patrol.
Tarriela said PCG commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan ordered the deployment of two PCG vessels, BRP Cape San Agustin and BRP Cape Engano, after the PCG aircraft’s validated the presence of the Chinese vessels in the area.
Tarriela said the PCG vessels issued radio challenges to the Chinese vessels which were told the leave the area, noting that their presence is violates the country’s sovereign rights.
“Unfortunately, none of them responded,” said Tarriela, adding the PCG vessels were still in the area as of yesterday and were continuing to challenge the Chinese vessels.
Tarriela said the PCG continues to document the Chinese activity. He said this will be forwarded to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea for possible action in the future.
“Basically, their main (goal) is to just swarm the particular area in Rozul Reef. They are not engaged in fishing or whatsoever. They are just there, clustered together,” said Tarriela.
He urged the Chinese government to order the pull out of the maritime vessels “because definitely, they are violating our sovereign rights.”
“The People’s Republic of China does not have authority over this area … If you’re going to ask me, I think the best way for everyone is for the Chinese government to respect our sovereign rights in the West Philippines Sea,” he said.
Tarriela said this is not the first time the PCG monitored Chinese swarming at Rozul Reef.
“In the previous year, we monitored swarming by 20 to 25 vessels, basically less than 30. So this is not the first time we monitored swarming activity of the Chinese maritime militia,” said Tarriela.
He said the PCG also sent ships to respond to the previous swarming activity. He said the Chinese vessels left one or two days after the arrival of PCG vessels.
As to the reason for swarming, he said China wants “to assert their claims over the area … What they are doing is they’re deploying Chinese maritime militia to claim that they are present in this area.”
He said the Chinese also want to “intimidate” Filipinos who are fishing in the area.
“If our fishermen will see the large number of Chinese maritime militia vessels, they might be intimidated and decide not go there for fishing activities,” he said.
“Third, we are seeing the Chinese maritime militia are being used for surveillance and intelligence gathering. Maybe they are monitoring what are the activities of the (Philippine) Coast Guard and even the Armed Forces in the area,” said Tarriela.