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Chinese coast guard blocked three PHL boats in May, says DND report


A Chinese coast guard ship blocked three Philippine civilian vessels on a resupply mission to the crew of the BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin Shoal in May, an defense department official has said in a report submitted to a member of the House.

In a report dated September 13 and submitted to Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate, Defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna said the coast guard ship with bow number 3305 blocked the path of the Filipino boats on May 14.

It came within 1,600 yards of the Philippine vessels, Luna said of the Chinese ship.

"China has been utilizing fishing vessels to discreetly conduct surveillance, search and rescue operations as well as provide assistance to law enforcement agencies," Luna said.

"There is high possibility that Beijing will continue the employment of these vessels, which could be used for asymmetric warfare of sea control and sea denial, such as swarming tactics and ramming of other claimants' vessels in the area, enabling it to make advancements in the maritime region without causing tension in the area," he added.

He also bared that for the first semester of 2019, a total of 322 Chinese Maritime Militia vessels with varying bow numbers were monitored in the resource-rich region. Of that number, 300 were monitored in Pag-Asa island.

The DND said that since the start of 2018, a total of 93,983 foreign vessels had been monitored in the areas of responsibility of the Northern Luzon Command, Southern Luzon Command, Western Command, Western Mindanao Command and Eastern Mindanao Command.

In the first quarter of 2019, a total of 8,222 foreign vessels have been monitored, the DND said.

According to DND Undersecretary Cardozo Luna, Chinese Coast Guard vessels were monitored in the area on several occasions.

He said that China regularly deployed at least one Chinese Coast Guard vessel perceived to be monitoring the activities in the area, including the arrival of Filipino fishing boats.

Luna further said in the report that a number of Chinese fishing vessels were frequently sighted in the West Philippine Sea.

He said that these fishing vessels were providing support to the naval and coast guard operations of the Asian superpower. —NB, GMA News

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