THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday reiterated that the presence of China’s “monster ship” off Zambales or in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea is against domestic and international laws.
PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela issued the statement a day after the Chinese foreign ministry justified the actions of Chinese Coast Guard vessel 5901 in the area.
Tarriela said PCG vessel BRP Gabriela Silang continues to monitor and challenge the Chinese vessel, which he said is moving 60 to 70 nautical miles from Zambales, or well within the country’s 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone.
On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun defended the presence of the monster ship in the area, saying that China’s actions are “fully justified” because it has sovereignty, rights and interest in the South China Sea.
“China Coast Guard conducts patrols and law enforcement activities in relevant waters in accordance with the law, which is fully justified,” said Guo.
He urged the Philippine government to stop what he called “infringement activities, provocations, and false accusations” and to “stop all its actions that jeopardize peace and stability and complicate the situation in the South China Sea.”
Acknowledging the Chinese statement, Tarriela said: “That is the reason why we’re challenging them. We are reminding them that they are violating international and domestic laws that we have right now.”
“They are violating (these laws) and they do not have (basis) to justify the patrols that they are doing inside our exclusive economic zone,” he said.
He maintained that the presence of the monster ship in the area over the past 12 days is illegal.
“They do not possess any legal authority to claim that they are doing a legitimate law enforcement operation (in the area),” said Tarriela.
Tarriela vowed the PCG would not stop challenging the Chinese vessel.
“We always have to challenge this every day, and we’ll never get tired of doing this,” he said.
He reiterated that China’s objective is to “normalize (their) unlawful activities and then they are going to change the status quo.”
“After they change the status quo, they are going to operationalize, (and) convert that into military bases,” he said.