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
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.
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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.
The foreign affairs department and the Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China lays claim to most of the waters within a so-called Nine Dash Line in the South China Sea, which is also contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
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Abu said it was the fourth reported incident of close distance manoeuvring involving Chinese coastguard and Philippine vessels in the Scarborough Shoal since May last year.
Despite the risks, Abu said the deployment of Philippine assets and personnel to waters within the country’s exclusive economic zones would continue.
