ManilaTimes-Mar 5

Almost four dozen Chinese maritime vessels are currently anchored off Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Saturday. The PCG said a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessel, a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel and at least 42 suspected Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) vessels were sighted approximately 4.5 to 8 nautical miles (NM) from Pag-asa Island, clearly inside the land feature’s 12 nautical mile territorial sea.

Pag-asa Island is the second largest of the naturally occurring land feature in the West Philippines Sea and the largest of the Philippine-administered Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) serving as the seat of the local government of the Municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan. It lies about 480 kilometers west of Puerto Princesa in Palawan which is covered by the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). It is estimated that more than 400 civilian locals – including some 70 children – call the island home together with stationed Military, Law Enforcement, and civilian government personnel. “The PLA Navy vessel and CCG 5203 have been observed to be slowly loitering within the surrounding waters of Pag-asa Island with a distance of 8 NM and 4 NM, respectively,” the PCG said, citing reports by its personnel stationed in the said island. On the other hand, 14 suspected CMM vessels are anchored within the vicinity of Pag-asa Cay 3 with an estimated distance of 4 NM west of Pag-asa Island, while the other 28 suspected CMM Vessels are monitored to be within the area of Pag-asa Cay 4. The PCG noted that based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, the observed location of the Chinese vessels fall squarely within Pag-asa Island’s 12 NM territorial sea. It stated that the continuing unauthorized presence of these Chinese vessels is “clearly inconsistent with the right of innocent passage and a blatant violation of the Philippines’ territorial integrity.” Read more at: https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/03/05/news/close-to-50-chinese-ships-anchoredoff-west-philippine-sea-island**/1881377