PCG, AFP says China ‘flexing its muscle’ with Liaoning aircraft carrier group passage

MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is not dismissing the possibility that the passage of China’s Liaoning Carrier Strike Group through Philippine waters was intended to threaten the country amid heightened diplomatic tensions.

PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said the PCG deployed BRP Sarangani to assist the Philippine Navy in shadowing the Chinese carrier group as it passed through the Mindoro Strait, Sulu Sea, and Basilan Strait.

“I agree with Admiral [Roy Vincent] Trinidad that this is China flexing its muscle. We know for a fact na dito sa ating ngayon, mainit ang diplomatic engagement ng China because of the threatening statements of the Chinese ambassador. So, we cannot disregard na itong pagdaan ng aircraft carrier group ng China sa Pilipinas is a way to threaten our country,” Tarriela told reporters in an interview on Wednesday.

He said the carrier group consisted of the Liaoning and three other People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships Huainan, Anshan, and Wuxi.

Tarriela said BRP Sarangani began monitoring the Chinese vessels at around 7 a.m. on October 22 and continued until 5 a.m. the following day.

The PCG spokesperson said BRP Sarangani came within some 200 to 300 yards of Chinese destroyer Huainan, which was escorting the aircraft carrier.

“Approximately, maybe 200 to 300 yards away from BRP Sarangani, that they were escorted until they reached the southern part of our country,” Tarriela said.

“The closest na lumapit sila was in Basilan at a distance of 46 nautical miles,” he said.

The PCG issued several radio challenges, asking the Chinese carrier group whether it had diplomatic clearance to pass through Philippine waters. The Chinese vessels invoked their right of innocent passage, according to Tarriela.

“Besides shadowing the Carrier Strike Group, we were asking whether they have diplomatic clearance to pass through and they were invoking the right of innocent passage. Kaya sila dumaan dito sa Mindoro Strait, pababa ng Sulu, and then Basilan Strait,” he said.

Tarriela acknowledged the right of other nations to freedom of navigation and innocent passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

“Yes, I agree with Admiral Trinidad on the mere fact that every state, we support the freedom of navigation, the right of innocent passage as a signatory of UNCLOS. We uphold this kind of rights of other nations,” he said.

Despite the passage, Tarriela said the deployment of Philippine assets demonstrated the country’s ability to monitor foreign naval movements.

“Yes, it just goes to show that the Armed Forces of the Philippines, together with the Philippine Coast Guard, are well aware of the movement of all these naval assets, not just with China but even other… our allies. Nalalaman natin itong paggalaw nila. We have a complete understanding and complete picture of our maritime domain,” he said.

BRP Sarangani is a refurbished 61-meter patrol vessel formerly operated by the Taiwan Coast Guard as Kinmen (CG123).

The vessel was acquired by the We Protect Our Seas (WPS) Foundation and donated to the PCG at no cost to the government.

It was formally turned over to the PCG on September 21 and commissioned into service on October 2.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the passage of China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning through Philippine waters was no cause for alarm, describing it as part of the PLAN’s periodic training exercises.

“What happened recently is part of an annual twice a year, periodic aircraft carrier operation exercise, training exercise, conducted by the PLA Navy. The usual route is coming from the northern part of the country passing through Bashi or Balintang Channel, going down south to our eastern seaboard all the way as far as Australia, coming back up to Sibutu Passage then to the West Philippine Sea,” AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Retired Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad (Reserve) said. 

“This time around, they passed through the western seaboard. It is no cause for alarm. It is a periodic activity. Our maritime domain awareness (MDA) is constant, active, and monitoring them,” he said in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Tuesday.

The official said the AFP and PCG continuously monitored the carrier group.

Philippine forces issued radio challenges to the Chinese vessels, but they did not respond.

Trinidad, however, noted that the lack of response was not unusual, as thousands of vessels monitored across the country’s maritime domain also fail to respond to challenges each month.

“Every month, we monitor approximately 16,000 different maritime merchant and naval assets passing through our waters. Of these approximately 16,000, all of them are challenged. Around 3,000 do not respond,” Trinidad said.

“The aircraft carrier Liaoning did not respond to our challenges. They are not the only ones who do not respond… But our monitoring was constant the moment we first noticed them entering our maritime domain. It was a very good opportunity for us to be able to test our systems and procedures on how to track a high value asset navigating through our maritime domain.”

Trinidad further said the passage did not constitute an incursion, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which allows foreign vessels innocent passage through a coastal state’s archipelagic waters, subject to applicable conditions.