A US tutorial heart mentioned Thursday {that a} “confrontation” occurred between a Chinese coast guard vessel and a Philippine Navy ship within the West Philippine Sea final month.
Citing satellite tv for pc pictures gathered by Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center (GKC) for National Security Innovation in partnership with different analysis facilities and knowledge suppliers, Raymond Powell of the GKC mentioned that the Chinese vessel stopped the BRP Andres Bonifacio from reaching Panatag Shoal, also called Scarborough Shoal, on December 8 final 12 months.
“Recently, there was a confrontation, about a month ago, between a Chinese coast guard vessel and BRP Andres Bonifacio right by Panatag or Scarborough Shoal. What we can draw from this experience is that Andres Bonifacio, coming from the northeast, [is] coming down towards the direction of Scarborough Shoal. The Chinese coast guard vessel, numbered 3303, identified as unknown because for some reason a couple of days prior to this, swapped numbers but it is the same ship…comes out and puts itself between the Bonifacio and Panatag Shoal,” mentioned Powell, a retired US Air Force colonel, at a discussion board organized by the Stratbase Institute.
“The two ships converge to about 800 meters, they go from north to south, and then eventually, the Bonifacio peels off and returns back to the Philippines,” he added.
“As far as I know, this incident was never reported or was never discussed, but we are able to find out about it because there are tools available to us,” Powell mentioned.
Sought for remark, Armed Forces spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar mentioned, “I still need to review the reports we received.”
Powell mentioned such incidents with China might be deterred by guaranteeing that the general public is conscious of the implications of such actions and forming alliances to get credible knowledge and protection.
He then cited a current Pulse Asia ballot displaying that 84% of Filipinos need the Marcos administration to work with the United States authorities and beef up the Philippine Coast Guard and Navy to guard the Philippines’ authorized claims within the West Philippine Sea.
The ballot, he mentioned, “shows an engaged public is key to deterring China and building national resilience. The quantity and quality of information we are getting is going up, and the cost of it is going down, making it more accessible.”
“We can know a lot more about what is happening in Philippine waters. We just need to know where to look, how to interpret it and how to tell the story. And that is really our concept: how do we put ourselves in the middle of this great technology, communicate with people who are most engaged, and shape the messages so the people can understand what is actually happening,” Powell added.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. returned from his state go to to China right now and earlier mentioned he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed to discover a compromise and measures that can be helpful to Filipino fishermen within the West Philippine Sea.
An worldwide tribunal in July 2016 junked China’s sweeping claims to a lot of the South China Sea, together with the West Philippine Sea, the place Panatag Shoal is situated. China has refused to acknowledge the ruling. — BM, GMA Integrated News
