CHINA has intensified its presence at Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) with the deployment of its largest coast guard vessel, the 12,000-ton China Coast Guard (CCG) 5901.
Retired US Air Force colonel Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project, said the ship arrived on Jan. 1, joining CCG vessels 3106, 3302, 3305, and at least seven Chinese maritime militia ships, further consolidating China’s control over this contested area, located about 120 nautical miles from the Philippines’ coast.
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