Kuwait city: The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced Sunday that one of its aircraft intercepted a Chinese research vessel operating off the coast of Cagayan province after it was detected inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Saturday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the PCG stated that the vessel, Xiang Yang Hong 05, was first spotted during an aerial maritime patrol, and that the ship did not respond to the plane's call for interception as it flew overhead. Navigation data on Sunday morning showed the vessel still located roughly 86 nautical miles from Calayan Island in northern Philippines.
The PCG reported that the Chinese vessel had departed Guangdong province on June 5, entered the Philippine EEZ on June 7 at a point 130 nautical miles off Ilocos Norte, and exited two days later. The vessel then conducted about 22 days of marine research operations along a parallel route in the Pacific Ocean, approaching as close as 42 nautical miles to Guam, before re-entering the Philippine EEZ.
The Xiang Yang Hong 05, recently converted from a cargo ship to a research vessel, has raised regional concerns due to its activity in maritime areas. The vessel also has historical links to ships used for long-range research and ballistic missile tests during the 1970s and 1980s, raising questions about its actual mission in the Pacific and the South China Sea.
Tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea - referred to by Manila as the West Philippine Sea - amid increasing Chinese maritime activity, particularly within areas the Philippines claims as part of its EEZ under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).