AFP monitors 54 Chinese vessels in WPS in one week
The AFP monitored 54 Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea from 20 to 26 October, while the military said the passage of aircraft carrier Liaoning was not a cause for alarm.
Photo courtesy of PCG
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) monitored 54 Chinese vessels in several areas of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) from 20 to 26 October, up from 31 in the previous week, AFP special spokesperson for the WPS Retired Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad (Reserve) said Tuesday.
The count was separate from the Chinese aircraft carrier group recently spotted off Mindanao.
Trinidad said a carrier strike group typically consists of destroyers, air-defense destroyers, other surface assets, and replenishment ships, and is expected to have a submarine.
He said the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning traveled toward the country's western seaboard before exiting through the southern border.
However, Trinidad said the passage of the Chinese carrier group was “not a cause for alarm.”
“It is no cause for alarm. It is not the first time that a carrier battle group of the PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy has transited international and Philippine waters. What happened recently is part of an annual twice a year, periodic aircraft carrier operation exercise, training exercise, conducted by the PLA Navy,” Trinidad said during a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.
“This time around they passed to the western seaboard, they came close within 15 miles to our landmass. It is no possible alarm. It is a periodic activity. Our maritime domain awareness is constant, active, and monitoring them,” he added.
Meanwhile, the monitored Chinese vessels included those from the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the China Coast Guard (CCG).
The AFP recorded seven PLAN vessels and seven CCG vessels at Ayungin Shoal; six PLAN vessels and 11 CCG vessels at Bajo de Masinloc; five PLAN vessels and two CCG vessels at Escoda Shoal; and four PLAN vessels and 12 CCG vessels near Pag-asa Islands during the period from 13 to 19 October.
According to Trinidad, the vessels' failure to respond to radio challenges should not automatically be interpreted as disrespect.
“Every month we monitor approximately 16,000 different maritime merchant and naval assets passing through our waters. Of these approximately 16,000 all of them are challenged. Around 3,000 do not respond. The aircraft carrier Liaoning did not respond to our challenge, they are not the only one who does not respond,” he said.
“There was no response whatsoever to the challenges that we gave them. But our monitoring was constant the moment we first noticed them entering our maritime domain, monitoring by the coast guard by the AFP, Philippine Air Force this was a very good opportunity for us to be able to test our systems and procedures how to track a high value asset navigating through our maritime domain,” Trinidad added.