The Philippines is keeping a close watch on the China Coast Guard (CCG) “monster ship” which has been spotted in Sabina (Escoda) Shoal, Philippine Navy said Tuesday.
Philippine Navy Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, however, clarified that they are not engaged in a standoff.
“What happened is that because of our monitoring of the unusual pile up of crushed corals, the Philippine government deployed a ship to monitor the activity there. Its presence is longer than the usual presence that we do and on the other side, the CCG also deployed their monster ship (with bow number 5901),” he said.
Trinidad also dismissed talks that Sabina Shoal is the new flashpoint in the WPS, adding that the source of tensions has always been the “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive actions of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Aside from the CCG giant ship, Trinidad said they have monitored the presence of a Chinese survey ship for the past 10 days coming from Mischief Reef.
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