PCG Repels China Vessels Anew

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) drove away a Chinese maritime militia vessel that deployed 24 small boats or sampans around Kota Island within the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) on Monday, Sept. 28.

According to PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, the militia vessel with bow number CMMV 9622 was detected about 1.2 nautical miles northwest of Kota Island around 10 a.m.

It launched 24 fishing boats each with two personnel aboard, spreading out at roughly 50-yard intervals and circling within 300 yards of the island, the PCG noted.

But Tarriela doubted the Chinese were conducting fishing activities because the sampans performed maneuvers “intentionally designed to surround Kota Island.”

“They did not lay nets or fishing gear. They didn’t have actual fishing activities,” said Tarriela. “It could be a possibility that they are surveying our activities or documenting the personnel who are also staying at Kota Island.”

Tarriela said the boats withdrew from the area after the PCG sent a rubber boat. “Launching two dozen small boats from a single militia platform is a force-multiplying tactic that extends the mothership’s reach and reinforces Chinese presence under a civilian appearance, below the threshold of overt coercion,” Tarriela explained.

The PCG stressed that Kota Island is within the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan and fishing without authorization from the Philippine government is a violation of the country’s sovereignty, fisheries laws and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Tarriela said the incident was the first time a huge number of Chinese fishing boats came so close to the island.

“The PCG will sustain its presence on and around Kota Island, continue to challenge and drive away foreign vessels operating illegally in Philippine waters and keep disclosing such activities to the Filipino people,” he said.

Tarriela also flagged the Chinese embassy’s “first public claim of Batanes” outside an academic symposium in China.

In a statement Monday night, embassy deputy spokesman Guo Wei said “China has sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters,” even citing international laws and UNCLOS.

“For the first time, they have aired their claim on the waters off Batanes through the Chinese embassy,” Tarriela said.