China’s ‘Monster’ coast guard ship back in WPS

MANILA, Philippines — China’s biggest coast guard vessel, known as “The Monster,” returned to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) during the weekend, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said, accusing Beijing of “normalizing” such deployments to “alter the existing status quo.”

A smaller China Coast Guard (CCG) ship, with bow No. 3304 that earlier replaced it to sustain Beijing’s presence in those waters, was “gradually pushed away” from the coastline of Zambales province by the PCG’s offshore patrol vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua, PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela told reporters on Sunday.

This prompted China to redeploy the 12,000-ton CCG 5901 on Saturday afternoon in the West Philippine Sea, part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, “to outmaneuver” Magbanua, he said. As of Sunday, it was 176 kilometers (95 nautical miles) off the coast of Zambales.

Despite adverse sea conditions with estimated wave heights of up to 5 meters, Tarriela said the BRP Teresa Magbanua continued to conduct vigilant monitoring of the illegal presence of the Chinese ship and was actively conducting radio challenges to address the unlawful presence of the CCG.

Source: https://www.inquirer.net/425080/chinas-monster-coast-guard-ship-back-in-wps/#ixzz8xC1InVAR