This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to Filipino officials, the Philippines has deployed ships and aircraft to closely track a giant Chinese coast guard ship, which is the largest ship in the world, describing the ship as a threatening existence in its exclusive economic area.
The 12, 000-ton China Coast Guard vessel 5901, known as” The Dragon” for its large dimensions, was last seen on Saturday about 54 nautical miles from Capones, a Spanish island in the South China Sea close to the coast of northern Zambales state.
According to Jonathan Malaya, associate director general of the National Security Council, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has been monitoring CCG 5901 and is sending television calls urging it to keep Philippine waters.
” Evidently, this is an act of coercion, force and anger against the Philippines”, Malaya told a media briefing on Monday.
” We have all of our possessions directed at this gigantic deliver. At the moment it does something negative in the sense that it would inspire actions, there will be appropriate behavior from the state”, Malaya said, without elaborating.
The Taiwanese ship , arrived , last week at Scarborough Shoal, a disputed South China Sea have within the Philippines ‘ Iss, an scientist told Radio Free Asia, a media company affiliated with BenarNews.
Malaya dismissed a Taiwanese government statement saying that its vessel was simply conducting a patrol , within its jurisdiction.
China’s military in Manila has not responded to internet requests for comment, but has  , constantly asserted , Beijing’s authority over Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines.
The shoal, located 125 nautical miles ( 232 kilometers ) from the main Philippine island of Luzon, has been under Beijing’s de facto control since 2012. It is claimed by China, the Philippines and Taiwan. The reef is a traditional hunting area for Filipino fishermen, but Chinese vessels have hampered their entry in recent years.
Malaya claimed that its actions within Manila’s waters were not supported by any international rules, despite the fact that CCG 5901 has not yet engaged in any hazardous maneuvers.
” And we’re really monitoring and shadowing it as of right now, given that we don’t want to be the prelude of any confrontational action,” he said.
On Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard said that one of its boats, the BRP Cabra, and its plane were tailing the huge Chinese fleet and issuing television problems.
The BRP Cabra had been following the unusual ship for a second consecutive time, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokeswoman for the West Philippine Sea, which is Manila’s exclusive economic area.
CCG 5901’s “erratic motions” indicated that it was not engaged in “innocent section” in Spanish waterways but was really conducting” a law enforcement function” in Manila’s regional waters, Tarriela said.
In November, Beijing announced , baselines , of its regional water around the Scarborough Shoal to improve its claim over the South China Sea have, a move that Manila rejected.
Conflicts between Beijing and Manila in the area last month erupted, with both accusing each other of inciting problem.
Beijing said Manila was encroaching in what it claimed as its control, forcing it to take steps. The PCG accused its Chinese equivalent of sideswiping a federal fishing ship patrolling the area and firing a water weapon.
In 2012, China took ownership of the , reef, forcing the Philippines to file a complaint before a planet judge. Four years later, an worldwide administrative court ruled in Manila’s prefer.
Beijing has refused to accept the decision.
