China 'stealing' maritime data in Bajo de Masinloc – officials

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MANILA, Philippines — China appears to be using a movable platform in Bajo de Masinloc to gather maritime data without Philippine consent, the National Maritime Council said, after officials confirmed the first documented placement of such a platform in the shoal.

Council spokesperson Alexander Lopez said Thursday, June 11, that the government had monitored the platform as early as May 20 or 21 and assessed it as a data-gathering platform for maritime research.

"Ang ginagawa nila ay kumukuha sila ng data/impormasyon at practically ninanakaw nila iyong data sa atin," Lopez said in an interview with PTV's "Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon."

(What they are doing is taking data and information, and practically stealing that data from us.)

Lopez said any maritime survey or research activity within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone requires authorization from Manila.

"The implication is very clear. Under international law, particularly UNCLOS, all economic activities, even maritime surveys or research activities, are prohibited unless there is authority or permission from the coastal state," he said in Filipino and English.

Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, is about 100 to 119 nautical miles from Zambales and well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Philippine officials said it is more than 500 nautical miles from Hainan, China’s southernmost province.

First documented movable platform

Philippine Coast Guard Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela said this was the first time the government documented a movable platform placed in Bajo de Masinloc.

The platform has a deck area of about 30 square meters and is roughly five to seven meters long, Tarriela said at a press conference Wednesday. It was surrounded by fenders and had four metal poles on each corner, which officials believe were used as stilts when the platform was placed in a stationary position.

Commercial satellite imagery showed no man-made structure at the entrance of Bajo de Masinloc on May 20, Tarriela added. On May 21, the government documented two Chinese research vessels, Yusha Yuji 20028 and Yuzan Yuji 6, at the entrance of the shoal.

He said officials suspect the two vessels brought the platform to the southeast entrance of Bajo.

By May 25, commercial satellite imagery showed a square object near the southeast entrance. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources documented the platform during a routine maritime domain awareness flight on May 26, while the PCG took low-altitude images on May 28.

Tarriela said Philippine monitoring later showed six Chinese nationals on the deck of the platform on May 30. On May 31, the platform had moved from the entrance into the shoal, supported by two service boats.

Protest filed

The Department of Foreign Affairs had earlier filed diplomatic action, including a protest or demarche, and asked China to remove the movable platform.

The DFA, in a statement read at the June 10 briefing, said the Philippines has "indivisible, incontrovertible, and longstanding sovereignty and jurisdiction" over Bajo de Masinloc.

"Only the Philippines has the right to place or construct structures and conduct activities in Bajo de Masinloc," DFA maritime affairs spokesperson Rogelio Villanueva Jr. said.

The DFA said the platform’s continued presence without Philippine consent violates Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and is inconsistent with UNCLOS, the 2016 arbitral award and China’s commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Lopez, the maritime council official, said the government was continuing maritime domain awareness patrols by air and sea using assets from BFAR, the PCG, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force.

Asked whether the Philippines would seek help from allies, Lopez said the government was still focused on internal monitoring and assessment.

"At this stage, internal pa lahat sa atin ito so hindi natin muna kailangan," he said. (At this stage, everything is still internal, so we do not need it yet.)

Lopez said the Philippines was still assessing whether the platform could signal other Chinese intentions in Bajo de Masinloc, but stressed that Manila would defend its rights peacefully and legally.

"Gusto ko lang sanang ibahagi ang posisyon ng ating government at ito ay idiniin ng ating pangulo, Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr., na sinabi niya during one of the SONA na not even a square inch of our territory o isang kuwadradong pulgada ay hindi natin ipamimigay sa anumang bansa," Lopez said.

(I want to share the position of our government, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized in one of his SONAs, that not even a square inch of our territory will be given away to any country.) — Camille Diola