South China Sea: Philippines slams Chinese coastguard’s ‘close distance manoeuvring’ at Scarborough Shoal

The Philippines’ coastguard said the March 2 incident involved a Chinese coastguard vessel and a Philippine ship

It had asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to help address the issue through ‘rules-based and peaceful approaches’, the coastguard’s commandant said

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A Philippine coastguard ship sails past a Chinese coastguard vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Published: 2:08pm, 27 Mar 2022Updated: 2:57pm, 27 Mar 2022

A recent incident of “close distance manoeuvring” by a Chinese coastguard vessel in the disputed South China Sea “constrained” the movement of a Philippine ship sailing nearby, the Philippines’ coastguard reported on Sunday.

The March 2 incident took place during the Philippine coastguard’s maritime patrol operations around the Scarborough Shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, the it said in a news release.

It was yet unclear whether the Philippines had lodged a diplomatic protest for the incident. The coastguard said it had to wait for the go-signal from the country’s National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea before making the incident public.

It involved a Chinese coastguard vessel with bow number 3305 that conducted close distance manoeuvring over an area of around 21 yards (19.2m) in the direction of Philippine vessel BRP Malabrigo, the Philippines’ coastguard said.

“This constrained the manoeuvring space of BRP Malabrigo – a clear violation of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS),” it said.

The coastguard had asked the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to help address the issue through “rules-based and peaceful approaches,” according to the commandant, Admiral Artemio Abu.