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The China coastguard's 165-meter 'monster ship' entered Manila's
200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay
Tarriela told a news forum.
The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine's EEZ
and asked about their intentions, he said.
"It's an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard,"
Tarriela said. "We're not going to pull out and we're not going
to be intimidated."
China's embassy in Manila and the Chinese foreign ministry did
not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's coast
guard has no publicly available contact information.
The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was
anchored 800 yards away from the PCG's vessel, Tarriela said.
In May, the PCG deployed a ship to the Sabina shoal to deter
small-scale reclamation by China, which denied the claim. China
has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands in
the South China Sea, building air force and other military
facilities, causing concern in Washington and around the region.
China claims most of the South China Sea, a key conduit for $3
trillion of annual ship-borne trade, as its own territory.
Beijing rejects the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent
Court of Arbitration which said its expansive maritime claims
had no legal basis.
Following a high-level dialogue, the Philippines and China
agreed on Tuesday for the need to "restore trust" and "rebuild
confidence" to better manage maritime disputes.
The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States,
its treaty ally, to assist operations in the South China Sea,
despite a flare-up with China over routing resupply missions to
Filipino troops on a contested shoal.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Additional reporting by Ryan
Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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