The China Coast Guard (CCG) has maintained near-daily patrol operations at several features in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) last year, a United States think tank revealed, as Filipino maritime security experts warned the government about China’s new political ploy to allegedly establish a secure foothold in the Philippines “at the expense of the country’s maritime interests.”
A new report published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) revealed that in 2022, CCG vessels patrolled Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc) for 344 days; Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal for 279 days; and Thitu (Pag-asa) Island for 208 days.
All of these features are located within the country’s 200 nautical mile (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and territorial waters: Panatag Shoal is at 124 nautical miles west of Zambales, Ayungin Shoal is at 105 nautical miles west of Palawan, while Pag-asa Island is part of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in Palawan where the Philippines exercises territorial sovereignty.
Aside from this, CCG vessels also patrolled Vanguard Bank in Vietnam for 310 days and Luconia Shoals in Malaysia for 316 days, the report added.
“China’s coast guard presence in the South China Sea (SCS) is more robust than ever,” the AMTI said in its report published on Monday, Jan. 30.
“Together with the ubiquitous presence of its maritime militia, China’s constant coast guard patrols show Beijing’s determination to assert control over the vast maritime zone within its claimed nine-dash line,” it added.
China’s political strategy
As this developed, retired rear admiral Rommel Jude Ong, senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, said that China is pushing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to set-up talks with key officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to strengthen the defense cooperation between Manila and Beijing.
This, he said, came after former president Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to China failed to gain traction due to an alleged pushback from the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Philippine Navy (PN).
“The Chinese Embassy fired the operating salvo by hosting an alumni event for AFP officers trained in China. Referencing the Chinese playbook on influence operations, in their mind, the only way they can establish a secure foothold in the country is by coopting key officials of the DND and senior officers in the AFP,” Ong was quoted as saying by Stratbase ADR Institute in a closed-door forum that it organized.
The DND and AFP have yet to issue a statement on the matter as of this writing.
The former Philippine Navy vice commander further stated that a successful cooptation of political elites through influence operations “seriously impacts the country’s maritime interests.”
“At the national level, Beijing can insinuate itself in decision-making and disrupt the country’s security posture in the WPS,” Ong noted.
Last Jan. 9, a CCG vessel drove away a Filipino fishing boat in Ayungin Shoal, prompting the AFP and DND to conduct an investigation.
Joint patrol operations
To address the emerging security concerns in the WPS, Ong then suggested that the Philippines should engage the United States or other partner-navies in joint patrol operations in the tension-filled waters.
“The Navy does not possess the numbers or the available mix of capabilities to symmetrically control China’s surface fleet at sea. The most viable solution is to deploy ‘surface task groups’ made up of the frigates, amphibious, and patrol vessels in its current inventory to contest the Chinese presence in the EEZ,” he said.
“Such a group could conduct patrols unilaterally or in tandem with the US or other partner-navies. This conveys a message of solidarity among like-minded countries with a stake in a peaceful SCS and contest the legality of China’s excessive territorial claims,” he added.
For his part, geopolitics expert and Stratbase ADR Institute non-resident fellow Richard Heydarian recommended that the government must maximize its partnership with Australia to enhance its presence in the WPS.
“The Philippine-Australia bilateral relationship is both promising yet highly under-tapped. The Philippine-Australia relationship is yet to be optimized,” Heydarian stressed.
He said the Philippines and Australia’s Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) contributed to a “robust” counter-terrorism and conflict-resolution in the past decade.