‘Uninvited guest’ in Phl-U.S. drills — Chinese vessels shadow 3 Philippine Navy ships
Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said two vessels are not obstructing but monitoring joint maritime exercises
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Daily TribuneVice Admiral Alberto Carlos said two vessels are not obstructing but monitoring joint maritime exercises
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Chinese vessel monitored and detected in WPS. | Photo by Lade Kabagani
Two Chinese navy vessels were spotted tailing three Filipino ships during joint maritime exercises between the Philippines and the United States in the West Philippine Sea near Lubang, Occidental Mindoro.
Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Command chief, said the two naval vessels of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy have been shadowing the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, BRP Gregorio del Pilar and the BRP Davao del Sur since Wednesday morning.
"They have been shadowing us since this morning, but that was of no matter. Just like the United States, they have the right to freedom of navigation, so they're there — as you can see, we are still doing our operations, we're still conducting our serials," Carlos said.
Despite China's presence, Carlos said the Philippines were still able to conduct a joint maritime patrol.
"They're not obstructing our movements, but that's it. They are monitoring our movements here in our training area, but this is our exclusive economic zone," he said.
Carlos said the BRP Gregorio del Pilar radio crew challenged the Chinese Navy vessels 570 and 174, which were sailing inside the Philippines' and US's MCA operational box of about 15,000 square nautical miles.
"When we challenged them, they said they were operating within their jurisdictional area, which is false, that is wrong. We have jurisdiction over this area because it is in our exclusive economic zone," he said.
Carlos said China was limiting its actions to shadowing the Philippine ships.
The Chinese ships were still shadowing the Philippine vessels as of press time.
Meanwhile, the AFP confirmed the maritime air exercises with the United States as part of their joint maritime cooperative activity in the West Philippine Sea were canceled due to "operational necessities."
The canceled drills included a joint photo exercise, a Philippines-US formation at sea, a gunnery exercise, cross-deck or personnel transfer exercises, and Officer of the Watch maneuvers.
"Unfortunately, all the maritime cooperative activities were canceled. I got word that even today's activity will be canceled due to operational necessities of the US forces," Carlos told reporters aboard the BRP Gregorio del Pilar.
The first day of the MCA was scheduled for 2 January but was reset to the following day.
On Wednesday, the Gregorio del Pilar held a unilateral exercise with the Ramon Alcaraz and the Davao del Sur that involved standard communication checks and a joint maritime patrol.
"We are doing unilateral exercises. The Philippine ships that were here were doing the maneuvers. Tomorrow, I was told the distinguished visitor visit will continue," Carlos said.
Later in the afternoon, the Philippine Navy vessels conducted a passing exercise with the USS Sterret.
During the maritime patrol, the crew of the Gregorio del Pilar detected the People's Liberation Army Navy vessel 570 at around 6:04 a.m., followed by PLAN vessel 174 at around 7:37 a.m. northwest of Cabra Island, Lubang.
The Filipino crew radioed a challenge thrice, but only the 570 responded with a counter-challenge.
The waters off Lubang were chosen as the exercise venue for the MCA as it is an "ideal place for maritime training activities," Carlos said.
"This is usually a clear area, with an open space in the middle, in the middle of the Nolcom and the Wescom areas, so this is an ideal place for training activities like this," he added.
