The Philippines’ coast guard said on Thursday that it has deployed its largest vessel and an aircraft to challenge a Chinese research ship operating off northern Batanes province near Taiwan, adding that a Chinese coast guard vessel had also moved in.
The Philippine operation “disrupted the vessel’s unauthorised marine scientific research and compelled it to leave its loitering position,” said Jay Tarriela, coast guard spokesperson on South China Sea issues.
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The Philippine Coast Guard [PCG] said the 97-metre BRP Teresa Magbanua and an aircraft were deployed against the Chinese vessel, which it said had remained about 37 nautical miles northwest of Itbayat Island since September 28.
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The Chinese vessel JIA HAI KE 7 is the same Chinese-flagged survey ship that the coast guard said was spoofing its location while loitering off Batanes.
The PCG said the Teresa Magbanua closed to within 100 yards of the JIA HAI KE 7 and deployed a rigid-hull inflatable boat that circled the research vessel several times as personnel issued radio challenges.
The coast guard said the research vessel repeatedly manoeuvred to evade Philippine boats during the operation. A China Coast Guard vessel then arrived to try to shield the survey ship. It then issued its own radio challenges to the Philippine ship.
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The involvement of a China Coast Guard vessel was “significant” because JIA HAI KE 7 is privately owned, raising questions about its links to the Chinese government and the purpose of the data it may have collected near undersea cable corridors off Batanes and the Luzon Strait.
The coast guard said the operation was ongoing, but it had forced JIA HAI KE 7 to leave its loitering position, with Teresa Magbanua continuing to monitor the vessel to ensure it exited the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
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