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Philippines sends largest ship, aircraft to drive away Chinese vessel in waters near Taiwan

The PCG said the privately owned vessel was conducting unauthorized marine scientific research and raising concerns over undersea cable security.

  • On Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard accused a Chinese research vessel of spoofing its location while loitering off Batanes, the country's northernmost island group near Taiwan, saying its movements were consistent with unauthorized marine scientific research.
  • Waters off Batanes and the Luzon Strait host key submarine cable corridors linking the Philippines with Northeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, with Itbayat lying about 160 km from Taiwan, raising concerns the vessel was investigating subsea cables.
  • Tracking data revealed the 2,000-ton, 70-meter survey ship, identified as Jia Hai Ke 7, broadcast false Automatic Identification System positions showing impossible movement from Xiamen to Papua New Guinea to northwest Itbayat, marking the first time PCG monitored this vessel type.
  • The vessel ignored repeated Philippine Coast Guard radio challenges to identify its intentions and held position rather than transiting, prompting authorities to commit continued monitoring through capabilities shared with the Armed Forces of the Philippines across Batanes locations.
  • Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson, characterized the spoofing as deliberate deception to prevent international challenges to Chinese operations, while Chinese scholars at Jinan University have previously claimed Batanes belonged to China, adding diplomatic complexity.
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The Philippine Coast Guard said on Thursday (October 1) that it successfully drove away a Chinese research vessel operating in the northern waters of the Batanes province, near Taiwan, by deploying one of its largest vessels and an aircraft.

·Washington, United States
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Lean Right

Beijing yet to respond to claims Manila's claims

·Ankara, Türkiye
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ABS-CBN broke the news in Quezon City, Philippines (the) on Monday, September 28, 2026.
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