北京「巨無霸船」- 世界最大海警船在南海停泊

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Beijing's 'monster ship,' the world's largest coastguard vessel, dropped anchor in the South China Sea

Business Insider - Cameron Manley

Sun, July 7, 2024 at 6:50 a.m. PDT·3 min read

The world's largest coastguard ship dropped anchor in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea earlier this week, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Jay Tarriela, a spokesperson for the PCG, wrote on X that the authority had successfully tracked the movements of the China Coast Guard's (CCG) "165-meter monster ship" by "using Canada's Dark Vessel Detection technology."

"On July 1st, the ship departed from Hainan and entered the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on the following day," he wrote.

The 12,000-ton CCG 5901 was later "radio challenged" by the PCG, which asked it to confirm its intentions and to remind it that it was operating within the EEZ, he added.

An exclusive economic zone is an area of the ocean "beyond a nation's territorial sea, within which a coastal nation has jurisdiction over both living and nonliving resources."

Tarriela wrote on Friday that the Chinese ship had been anchored at Escoda Shoal "for over two consecutive days" while "maintaining a close proximity" to a PCG vessel. He added that the distance between the ships was "less than 800 yards."

 Tarriela later told a news forum that the Chinese vessel's moves were "an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard."

"We're not going to pull out and we're not going to be intimidated," he added.

Maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines are on the rise

China and the Philippines have had frequent confrontations around the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll located within the exclusive economic zone.

China claims sovereignty over the reef and most of the South China Sea, but an international tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's claims to waters within its "nine-dash line" had no legal basis.

The Philippines grounded a ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the reef in 1999 to state its own claims over the area.

But the Shoal remains what the Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group (ICG) has called a "dangerous flashpoint," as Chinese boats continually try to prevent efforts to resupply the grounded ship.

Earlier this month, the China Coast Guard blocked a resupply mission using "dangerous and deliberate use of water cannons, ramming, and blocking maneuvers," according to a statement provided to US Naval Institute News by a spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Officials from China and the Philippines met on Tuesday and said they aimed to "rebuild confidence" to help manage maritime disputes.

But the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs stressed that it would be "relentless in protecting its interests and upholding its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction" in the South China Sea.

The ICG noted in May that "relations between the two countries in the maritime domain have never been as volatile as during the last seven months."

Translation

菲律賓海岸防衛隊（PCG）表示，世界上最大的海岸防衛隊船隻本週稍早在南海的馬尼拉專屬經濟區（EEZ）落錨。

PCG 發言人Jay Tarriela 在X上寫道，當局通過 “使用加拿大的暗船探測技術” ， 成功追踪了中國海警(CCG)的 “165米巨輪” 的動向。

他寫道: 「7月1日，該船從海南出發，並於第二天進入菲律賓專屬經濟區（EEZ）」。

他補充說，12,000 噸的CCG 5901後來受到PCG的 “無線電挑戰” ，PCG要求其確認其意圖並提醒其在專屬經濟區內作業。

專屬經濟區是「一個國家領海以外的海洋區域，沿海國家對其中的生物和非生物資源擁有管轄權」。

Tarriela 週五寫道，這艘中國船隻已「連續兩天」停泊在埃斯科達淺灘，同時與一艘 PCG 船隻「保持近距離」。他補充說，兩艘船之間的距離「不到800碼」。

Tarriela後來在新聞論壇上表示，中國船隻的舉動是「中國海警發出的恐嚇」。

他補充道: 「我們不會撤軍，我們也不會被嚇倒」。

中國與菲律賓之間的海上衝突不斷升級

中國和菲律賓圍繞著位於專屬經濟區內的仁愛礁發生了頻繁的對抗。

中國聲稱對該島礁和南海大部分海域擁有主權，但國際法庭於 2016 年裁定，中國對其「九段線」之內海域的主張沒有法律依據。

1999 年，菲律賓將一艘名為 BRP Sierra Madre 的船隻擱淺在礁石上，以表明自己對該地區的主權主張。

但該淺灘仍然被總部位於布魯塞爾的智庫國際危機組織（ICG）稱為“危險的爆發點”，因為中國船隻不斷試圖阻止為這擱淺船隻的補給努力。

美國國防部長辦公室發言人向美國海軍學院新聞提供的一份聲明稱，本月早些時候，中國海警隊用「危險且蓄意動用水砲、撞擊和攔截的方式」阻止了一次補給任務。

中國和菲律賓官員週二會面，表示他們的目的是 “重建信心” ，以幫助解決海上爭端。

但菲律賓外交部強調，它將在南海「堅定不移地保護其利益，維護其主權、行使主權的權利和管轄權」。

ICG 在 5 月指出， “兩國在海洋領域的關係從未像過去七個月那樣動盪。”

              So, China claims sovereignty over the reef and most of the South China Sea, but an international tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's claims to waters within its "nine-dash line" had no legal basis. The Philippines stresses that it will be "relentless in protecting its interests and upholding its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction". In view of the above, I think that conflicts between the two countries will continue for some time unless they can put aside their difference temporarily. In a similar territorial right dispute happened in recent years, China and India have successfully put aside their differences over the border that have caused clashes among their soldiers.