China ships making their presence felt at disputed shoals –AMTI

From GMA News Online (Sep 29, 2019): China ships making their presence felt at disputed shoals –AMTI

Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ships have been purposely making their near-constant presence at Ayungin and Panatag Shoals in the West Philippine Sea felt, according to the Washington-based think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).

In a September 26 report, AMTI explained that the presence of the Chinese vessels at the Luconia, Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin), and Scarborough (Panatag) Shoals highlighted how the CCG’s access to newly-built port facilities on artificial islands in the Spratlys allowed then to sustain such deployments.

AMTI had identified 14 CCG vessels broadcasting automatic identification system (AIS) signals while patrolling the West Philippine Sea features over the last year.

CCG ships did not usually open their automatic identification systems (AIS) during patrols, but they frequently broadcast their presence in these WPS areas.

“There was at least one ship broadcasting from Luconia on 258 of the last 365 days. At least one was broadcasting at Second Thomas on 215 days, and from Scarborough for 162 days,” the think tank added.

Between September 2018 and September 2019, AIS signals showed that there had been 3308 CCG patrols around the Ayungin and Panatag Shoals.

GMA News Online had sought comment from both the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Department of National Defense, but neither had replied as of posting time.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/709779/china-ships-deliberately-making-their-presence-felt-at-disputed-shoals-amti/story/