Chinese warships shadow BRP Apolinario Mabini during Balikatan exercises

Chinese vessels once again closely monitored Philippine forces at sea amid the ongoing Balikatan 2025 joint military exercises with the United States.

In a report by Chino Gaston on ''24 Oras Weekend,'' the BRP Apolinario Mabini was approached Saturday morning by a Chinese warship while sailing off Northern Luzon. 

At around 8 a.m., a Chinese Navy Jiangkai II class frigate, with bow number 579, appeared and circled behind the Philippine Navy vessel, seemingly conducting close-range surveillance. 

BRP Apolinario Mabini was dwarfed by the larger Chinese vessel, yet the Philippine ship continued its course as planned.

The Philippine ship was participating in division tactic exercises alongside the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, the BRP Gabriela Silang of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and US Navy vessels USS Savannah and USS Comstock. 

It was seen that the Chinese frigate eventually distanced itself as the USS Savannah, a littoral combat ship, maneuvered to begin a line formation within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Two more Chinese ships — one with bow number 500 and the Dongdiao II auxiliary surveillance ship with bow number 797 — arrived later, positioning themselves 8 to 15 nautical miles from the formation of allied vessels.

In response, the USS Comstock deployed a helicopter to conduct an aerial survey near the Chinese ships. Meanwhile, the BRP Ramon Alcaraz issued multiple radio challenges to the Chinese vessels, which were answered with radio challenges of their own.

Efforts are ongoing to obtain a statement from the Chinese Embassy regarding the incident.

At one point during the drills, the BRP Gabriela Silang sailed between US and Philippine Navy ships. Altogether, nine different ship formations were executed by the US and Philippine navies, along with the Philippine Coast Guard, as part of the division tactics training under Balikatan 2025.

Despite the presence of Chinese warships observing from a distance, the exercises continued without disruption. The allied forces are set to resume training operations on Sunday, including underway replenishment drills while continuing their coordinated sailing exercises. — Sherylin Untalan/VBL, GMA Integrated News