CHINA NAVY SHIPS SHADOW BALIKATAN VESSELS

WEST PHILIPPINE SEA—Two Chinese Navy spy ships shadowed Philippine and American vessels during the Balikatan exercises as they sailed at the westernmost portion of Palawan on Saturday.

During the formation drills of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, BRP Davao del Sur and USS Harpers Ferry, a spy ship of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy with bow number of 793 tailed the convoy.

MN Vendemiaire of the Marine Nationale of France that was originally part of the Balikatan flotilla went back to Palawan for refueling.

BRP Ramon Alcaraz issued radio challenges to PLAN 793, which did not respond.

Commander Jennifer Monforte said an unknown PLAN Electronic Warfare Vessel was also spotted near the location of the participating ships for the Balikatan exercises, within the country’s EEZ, some 147 nautical miles from the mainland Palawan.

“There were 2 vessels spotted today – one was detected by our radars and spotted by our sailors, and one was seen following the first ship spotted shadowing our vessels” Monforte said.

Foreign ships may enter another country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but cannot explore for or extract resources from the area.

“It’s safe as long as there is no impeding and there is no obstruction,” said Commander Marco Sandalo, commanding officer of BRP Davao del Sur.

Earlier, Philippine Navy spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said the number of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea surged to 124 this week, double the usual average of 60 vessels in the past two months.