World’s Largest Coast Guard Ship Belonging To China Intrudes Philippines Waters

CCG — Image for representation purposes only

The largest coast guard vessel in the world, belonging to China, stepped into the West Philippine Sea close to Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal on May 24 in a move that specialists describe as “unusual” and a manner in which they “illustrate dominance.”

Ray Powell, the director at SeaLight, said on X the world’s largest coast guard ship measures 165 meters.

At around 5:15 a.m., the China Coast Guard vessel with bow number 5901 and a CCG vessel measuring 102 meters with bow number 5203 were spotted together.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy’s spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, confirmed the same, stating that the two vessels were last seen about 50 nm off the atoll.

Powell said the CCG vessels had conducted a relatively short intrusive patrol within the country’s exclusive economic zone, an unusual decision with unclear motives.

Powell leads the program at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, which tracks China’s maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea.

He observed that China conducts intrusive patrols within the exclusive economic zones of neighbouring nations by trying to strengthen a continuous presence and normalize China’s jurisdiction over the areas granted to the neighbours following international law.

Salami-slicing strategy

An international studies specialist observed that China seeks to expand its presence further in the region as part of Beijing’s salami-slicing move.

It is part of Beijing’s ongoing yet increasingly intensifying salami-slicing tactics in the waters of the West Philippine Sea, which lies in having a close-to-constant presence within the Philippine EEZ to alter the status quo and the balance of power to its favour without the use of military force, explained Don McLain Gill.

Gill is a lecturer associated with the Department of International Studies at De La Salle University.

China seized total control of the Scarborough Shoal’s lagoon in 2012 after its coast guard had a standoff with Philippine vessels.

These actions align with Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty in the South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea.

Power play

Gill said that by using the largest Coast Guard vessel, China is trying to show its dominance and the asymmetry of power between China and the Philippines.

In an attempt to challenge the control that bans fishermen from accessing the area, a civilian-led convoy tried to approach the shoal last week but was stopped by 10 CCG warships in what the PCG described as an “overkill” response that included just five fishing boats.

During the ceremony, China also declared a unilateral anti-trespassing order that will take effect on June 15 and cover most of the West Philippine Sea, as the South China Morning Post reported.

Reference: Global Nation

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