00:00 Chinese ships are increasing in the West Philippine Sea
00:03 based on the monitoring of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
00:07 Breaking news, by Mackie Pulido.
00:10 Last September, three Chinese survey ships passed by near the Philippine Rhize,
00:17 an underwater plateau in the northeastern seaboard of the Philippines.
00:21 It is located in the low-bottom of our Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ,
00:25 and it was considered as a rich country in oil, gas, and other marine resources.
00:29 On February 26, the former US Air Force official, Ray Powell,
00:34 posted that there are two Chinese ships that have seen loitering or were near the area.
00:40 In the monitoring of the Philippine Navy,
00:41 two research survey vessels from Guangzhou, China and Pacific Ocean were sent.
00:47 If we will track the course of both survey ships
00:51 coming from the port of origin to the Pacific,
00:54 that is more or less the vicinity they would be after two or three days of travel.
00:58 In transit, or the survey ships of China just passed by,
01:02 now, the two survey ships are outside the Philippine EEZ.
01:06 Passing through the Exclusive Economic Zone or a coastal state is allowed under UNCLOS.
01:13 Doing research or other activities will help to inform the coastal state
01:18 and in some ways get the consent of the coastal state.
01:21 In the other side of the country, in the West Philippine Sea,
01:25 aside from the South Sea Fleet of China and China Coast Guard,
01:29 there are more ships of the Chinese maritime militia.
01:32 In the monitoring of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative,
01:36 the average number of militia vessels is 195
01:39 that were spotted in different places in the West Philippine Sea every day of 2023.
01:44 More than the previous years.
01:47 The Philippine Navy said that these are private fishing vessels
01:49 that were given a permit by China to fish inside the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines.
01:55 But the Chinese military is accepting the order.
01:59 I would call them a clear and present challenge, not a danger.
02:02 This is part of what we are navigating, that we have to create a new environment now.
02:08 There is no new statement from China that they have previously minimized their sovereignty
02:12 in the territories of the West Philippine Sea.
02:15 Mackie Pulido reporting for GMA Integrated News.
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02:35 [Music]
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