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PCG: China Coast Guard, PLAN harassed BFAR vessels near Sandy Cay
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday reported that the China Coast Guard and People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) harassed Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels going to Sandy Cay in the West Philippine Sea.
The incident occurred on Friday, the PCG said.
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The PCG in a statement said the Chinese forces harassed BFAR vessels BRP Datu Pagbuaya and BRP Datu Bankaw while these were en route to Sandy Cay for a marine scientific survey and sand sampling.
"During the mission, the BFAR vessels encountered aggressive maneuvers from three Chinese Coast Guard vessels 4106, 5103 and 4202, which exhibited blatant disregard for the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs)," the PCG said.
"Fortunately, the skilled seamanship of the BFAR crew prevented any potential accidents during these dangerous confrontations," it added.
The CCG also deployed four small boats to harass two rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) of the BFAR that were transporting personnel to Sandy Cay.
"Compounding the situation, a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) helicopter, identified by tail number 24, hovered at an unsafe altitude above the BFAR RHIBs, creating hazardous conditions due to the propeller wash," the PCG said.
Such actions left the BFAR and PCG with no choice but to suspend the survey operations.
"As a result of this continuous harassment and the disregard for safety exhibited by the Chinese maritime forces, BFAR and PCG have regrettably suspended their survey operations and were unable to collect sand samples at Sandy Cays," the PCG said.
"Both BFAR and PCG remain committed to their mandates and will take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of their personnel and vessels in the pursuit of scientific research and resource management," it added.
Meanwhile, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela said in Jonathan Andal's Saturday 24 Oras Weekend report that they would deal with the matter professionally.
"We should not be [provoked], and this kind of bullying should not result to an escalatory response on the part of the Philippine government," explained Tarriela.
"China is blatantly violating international law. China does not care about UNCLOS and they are disrespecting our sovereign right."
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it would file another diplomatic protest following the incident.
"It's just not a matter of telling China 'Don't do it,' but always asserting our sovereign rights," said DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega.
CCG statement
In its own statement, China Coast Guard said China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratly Islands, including Sandy Cay — which China calls Tiexian Reef — and that it had intercepted two Philippine vessels and driven them away in accordance with law, Reuters reported.
China Coast Guard said the Philippine vessels had entered waters near Tiexian Reef without permission and attempted to "illegally" land on the reef to collect sand samples.
The Philippine Embassy in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Reuters.
In September 2023, dead and crushed corals were found in Sandy Cay 2. Experts said this was a common procedure done by China before it starts reclamation activities.
In March 2024, several Filipino marine scientists were injured after they were reportedly harassed by a Chinese Navy helicopter at Sandy Cay. The helicopter reportedly flew low over the coalescing sand bars and the scientists for 10 minutes. The downwash from the helicopter scattered dead corals, causing cuts and scratches on the Filipino researchers.
In May last year, the Philippine government said Sandy Cay is in a "degraded state."
According to experts and officials, they saw "low coral and fish diversity and abundance" in Sandy Cay, locally known as Pag-asa Cay.
Dr. Jonathan Anticamara from the UP Institute of Biology said that this is "possibly due to a combination of disturbances from overfishing, climate change impacts, and island-building activities in WPS."
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
Parts of the waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone have been renamed the West Philippine Sea.
In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague said China's claims had no legal basis. Beijing has rejected the decision. —with a report from Reuters/KG, GMA Integrated News