Philippines opens new coast guard station near Taiwan to bolster security
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
The Philippine Coast Guard station on Itbayat island in the northern Batanes province is a strategic move to enhance maritime domain awareness.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
MANILA - The Philippines has opened a new coast guard station on an island near Taiwan to increase surveillance over an area that has seen a military build-up and frequent presence of Chinese vessels.
The Philippine Coast Guard station on Itbayat island in the northern Batanes province “is a strategic move to enhance maritime domain awareness and strengthen the security measures along Luzon Strait”, National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement on May 24.
He said Luzon Strait, located between the Philippines’ main Luzon island and Taiwan, saw a “military build-up” in 2022 when China responded to political developments between the US and Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing claims as part of its territory. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
Mr Ano said the frequent presence of China-flagged research or survey vessels in Luzon Strait showed the need to secure peace and freedom of navigation in the area.
The new station, inaugurated on May 23, will gather maritime data and intelligence to allow the Philippine Coast Guard to respond to threats including foreign intrusions, according to the statement.
Beijing lays sweeping claims over the South China Sea, including areas the Philippines says are part of its exclusive economic zone.
The Philippine Coast Guard late in 2023 built a new surveillance base on a Manila-occupied island in the South China Sea to boost its capacity to monitor movements of Chinese ships and counter Beijing’s aggression in the disputed waters.
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on May 24 that China’s rules about how its coast guard can operate in the South China Sea were a matter of international concern, describing them as a provocation.
China, which also has maritime sovereignty disputes with other claimant countries in the South China Sea
“Such behaviour is not only a violation of Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), but also a violation of precepts of the UN charter, which lays upon each responsible state the duty to refrain from the use of force or aggression to enforce, particularly in this case, illegal territorial claims in the maritime domain,” Mr Teodoro said in a speech at the Philippine Navy’s anniversary.
“That is a provocation insofar as I am concerned,” he added.
The Philippines and China have had several maritime run-ins in the South China Sea in the past few months that included the use of water cannon by Chinese coast guard vessels that damaged Manila’s boats and injured crew members.
Responding to concerns, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said this week the new rules were meant to protect the maritime order and that there was no need to worry if there was no illegal behaviour by the individuals and bodies involved. Bloomberg, REUTERS
