Navy says two Chinese fishing ships at eastern coast of Luzon not maritime militia
A Philippine Navy spokesman assures that the two Chinese fishing vessels monitored at the eastern coast of Luzon are not maritime militia which is usually tapped by Chinese Navy as "force multipliers" like those in the West Philippine Sea.
Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad give his assurance as he noted that on a normal day, the Chinese maritime militia are "actually fishing vessels that have been tapped to act as force multipliers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy."
"Our monitoring would tell us that the maritime militia are in the West Philippine Sea. Fishing vessels are all around," he said.
"Therefore they are civilian vessels, fishing vessels that are tapped under the Chinese military commission, the Central Military Commission to act as force multipliers for the PLA Navy in times of conflict," he added.
In his X (twitter) account, Ray Powell of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation Project Myoushou reported on Tuesday morning that Chinese fishing boats "Lu Rong Yu 51794 and Lu Yan Yuan Yu 017 are currently operating off the east coast of the Philippines, less than 20 nm (nautical miles) from the San Ildefonso Peninsula (Casiguran, Aurora Province, Luzon)."
Trinidad said the presence of the two Chinese vessels "is not alarming" and the Philippine Navy only give special attention to warships that enter its waters.
" This is not alarming. It's not only the Chinese fishing boats that we monitor. There are other fishing boats from other countries all over our EEZ, including ASEAN countries and the Pacific Island states," he said.
"We only give special attention if these are grey hulled ships. If these are not grey hulled ships, ships conducting fishing activities or others, we leave it to the proper government agency," he added.
Although he confirmed that the two Chinese vessels were monitored around 32 nautical miles from natural submarine prolongation of the Luzon Island previously known as Benham Rise as of Monday, Trinidad also noted that there is no reason for Chinese fishing vessels to swarm in Philippine Rise.
"There is no reason to swarm. Benham Rise, the most shallow portion of Benham Rise is 120 feet. It is, at the closest part, more than 220 nautical miles from the mainland," he said.
"There is no reclamation there. No artificial island there. So I would like to assure everybody, these are not maritime militia... You could not even reclaim that with a depth of 120 feet," he added.
Trinidad said the Philippine Navy is"coordinating with the appropriate government agency on how to address" the monitored presence of the two Chinese fishing boats at the east coast of Aurora province. Robina Asido/DMS
