MANILA, Philippines—A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship conducting a “resupply cruise” to its outposts within the Spratly Islands additionally handed close to 5 options of the West Philippine Sea.
West Philippine Sea monitor Ray Powell mentioned that the 8,000-ton Sansha 2 Hao first handed off Pag-asa (Thitu) Island on Sunday morning. It was accompanied by the San Sha Zhi Fa 301.
Powell added that the 2 ships additionally traversed the waters close to Patag (Flat) Island, Lawak (Nanshan) Island, Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, and Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
READ: West PH Sea: China ‘monster’ ship got here a lot nearer to El Nido, Palawan – PCG
As of Monday, the 2 ships have been inside 60 nautical miles of Malaysia’s shoreline “to say the southern extent of Beijing’s maritime claims,” in response to Ray Powell, program head of Stanford College’s Gordian Knot Middle for Nationwide Safety Innovation.
“This mission has two functions — to ship provides to Beijing’s Spratly Island bases, and to mark the extent of its maritime claims,” Powell instructed INQUIRER.internet.
Final week, the CCG’s largest vessel, dubbed the “monster ship,” additionally performed what Powell referred to as an “intrusive patrol” in comparable options.
READ: ‘Monster ship’ in West PH Sea a part of China’s intimidation techniques – professional
The 13,000-ton Chinese language ship was even noticed solely 34 nautical miles away off El Nido, Palawan, a growth that despatched shockwaves throughout social media platforms like Fb.
Such actions align with Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty in virtually all the South China Sea, together with many of the West Philippine Sea, even when such a declare has been successfully invalidated by the arbitral award issued in July 2016.
The landmark ruling stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013, a yr after its tense standoff with Beijing over Panatag Shoal, whose lagoon the latter now successfully controls.
Except for the Philippines, China’s ten-dash line within the South China Sea overlaps with different Spratly Island claimants comparable to Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and even Taiwan, a self-ruled territory that Beijing deems to be a renegade province topic to reunification.
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Maritime options in Spratly Islands occupied by Manila are collectively referred to as the Kalayaan Island Group.
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