‘Substantial increase’ in South China Sea patrols by Philippine vessels: US think tank
- Philippine law enforcement or military vessels paid 57 visits to waters around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal in the past three months – compared to seven visits in the 10 previous months, says US think tank ATMI
- The patrols are also visiting more contentious areas. One expert says this shows a Chinese militia’s ‘swarming’ of Whitsun Reef was a wake-up call for Manila
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that from March 1 to May 25 it had observed “13 Philippine law enforcement or military vessels paying a total of 57 visits to waters around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal”.
It said this was “a substantial increase over the previous 10 months, when three vessels were tracked making seven total visits to contested features”.
The figures, released in a report on Wednesday, were based on “tracking data from commercial provider Marine Traffic and satellite imagery from Maxar and Planet Labs”, the think tank said.
Not only were patrols more frequent, but their location had changed to include four disputed features of the sea not visited during the previous period.
Before March this year, patrols had usually gone to and from the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, which is referred to as Pag-asa by the Philippines.
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Philippine coast guard confronts Chinese maritime ‘militia’ vessels in South China Sea