Coast Guard issues new challenge to Chinese ‘monster ship’ near Zambales waters

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) once again challenged the Chinese Coast Guard’s “monster ship” which continues to operate illegally off the Zambales coast.

In a statement, the PCG, through the BRP Gabriela Silang, said it issued radio challenges on vessel 5901 on Saturday, when the Chinese Coast Guard monster ship was positioned 60 to 70 nautical miles on the Coast Line of Zambales.

“The PCG sends a clear message: the normalization of unlawful deployments will not be accepted or tolerated.,” Commodore Jay Tarriela in an X (formerly Twitter) statement said. 

“It is important to note that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) clarifies that the freedom of navigation for foreign-flagged vessels does not extend to conducting patrols within the EEZ of other states,” he added. 

This year, the PCG first confirmed the presence of the monster ship on January 4. 

In a press briefing on January 14, National Task Force - West Philippine Sea spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the Department of Foreign Affairs has already filed a diplomatic protest against the matter. 

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun defended the ship’s intrusion into Philippine territory saying that that China's sovereignty and rights in the South China Sea have been “repeatedly established and are firmly grounded in history and international law.”

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague sided with the Philippines, finding that China's claims in the South China Sea lacked legal basis, a ruling that China does not recognize.