The world’s largest coast guard vessel, a Chinese ship known as “The Monster,” has arrived at the disputed Scarborough Shoal inside the Philippine exclusive economic zone to boost Beijing’s control over the maritime area, an American analyst said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese navy has been conducting a New Year carrier-based helicopter training exercise in the airspace over the South China Sea, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The 12,000-ton CCG 5901 arrived at Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday, said Ray Powell, director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University, who tracks the ship’s movements.
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There are at least three other Chinese coast guard ships - CCG 3106, 3302 and 3305 – as well as seven militia ships, already present at the shoal, Powell told Radio Free Asia.
The aim of their mission is to boost Beijing’s control over the maritime area just 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from the main Philippine island of Luzon, he said.
Scarborough Shoal is known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc and has served as a traditional fishing ground for Filipino fishermen but their access has been restricted by Chinese vessels in recent times, which hold de-facto control of the area.
It is well within the area under the jurisdiction of the Philippines, where it has exclusive rights to resources in the waters and on the seabed.
“The Monster” is not only large in size, it is also armed with heavy machine guns and has a helicopter platform.
It is unclear whether the ship carries any helicopter unit on this mission but last week, the Chinese coast guard conducted a carrier-based helicopter training exercise, also at Scarborough Shoal, using another coast guard vessel.
Control of airspace
Chinese authorities “are now paying more attention to the deployment of airpower” in relation to the South China Sea disputes, Yang Xiao, a maritime expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said on an influential blog with nearly three million followers on Sina Weibo.
The U.S. and Philippine militaries have been deploying reconnaissance aircraft and drones to the Scarborough Shoal, a strategically located chain of reefs south of Bashi channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, Yang said, adding that China now has to gain air control, especially after it announced baselines to form territorial sea and airspace around the shoal in November.
The carrier-based aircraft training is to send a warning to the Philippines and its ally the U.S. that they should think twice before “entering China’s airspace,” the Chinese expert said.
The Chinese coast guard’s training exercise on Dec. 27 was similar to current drills by a helicopter unit of the Southern Theater Command navy’s carrier-based aviation force, conducted at an unspecified location in the South China Sea.
According to CCTV, on Wednesday and Thursday, various types of carrier-based helicopters carried out multi-subject practical training including search and rescue, alert control, and sea landing, “further improving the unit’s coordinated combat capabilities.”
The aircraft also carried out reconnaissance patrol and alert control training exercises at high altitude in a “target sea area,” CCTV said without identifying the location.
In recent weeks, China’s military has been ramping up combat readiness exercises at Scarborough Shoal.
On Sunday, its Southern Theater Command staged large-scale patrols around the shoal, with both navy and the air force taking part.
Edited by Mike Firn.