The Philippines has released a video of the Chinese coast guard continuing to operate in the waters off the Southeast Asian country’s main island of Luzon after more than two months.
Newsweek reached out to the Philippine coast guard and Chinese foreign ministry by email with requests for comment.
Why It Matters
Since early January, China‘s coast guard has been deploying ships to an area west of Zambales province in a show of force. These waters are closer to a major Philippine island than the reefs that have typically been the focus of the neighbors’ territorial dispute and well within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—where maritime law grants Manila the sole rights to natural resources.
China asserts sovereignty over upwards of 90 percent of the South China Sea, putting the country at loggerheads not just with the Philippines, but several other neighbors with competing claims.
What to Know
The footage from the Philippine coast guard shows the 144-foot BRP Cabra on Saturday sailing a short distance away from China Coast Guard 3105—a vessel three times its size.
“Despite adverse sea conditions with wave heights exceeding 3-5 meters (10-16 feet), the BRP Cabra has effectively kept the larger vessel at a distance of more than 95 nautical miles (109 miles) off the coast of Zambales, preventing its approach to the coastline,” Jay Tarriela, a spokesperson for the Philippine agency, wrote on X.
“The Philippine Coast Guard continues to challenge the illegal presence of the China Coast Guard, emphasizing that their actions violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Philippines Maritime Zones Act, and the 2016 Arbitral Award,” Tarriela said.
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