0
0
China parked their 165-meter “monster” in some hot water. “Hot” as in disputed by Manila. The Philippine’s have been squaring off against the Chinese Coast Guard for a couple years now. Mostly over the fiercely contested St. Thomas Shoal. This time, they’re fighting over a patch of ocean called the Sabina shoal. The Chinese have a new hobby, creating their own islands through “extensive land reclamation.” Once they have a few acres lifted a foot or two above the waves, they build “air force and other military facilities.” While that normally causes “concern in Washington,” Joe Biden is out of his mind, right now. Just leave a message and Blinky Blinken will get back to you.
Intimidating Monster moves in
The Pooh Bear ordered his 165-meter “Monster” coastguard vessel to anchor in Manila’s South China Sea “exclusive economic zone.” This latest dispute started in May, when Manila sent a ship to the Sabina shoal. They were there “to deter small-scale reclamation by China.”
China swears up and down that they weren’t building any sneaky military bases or anything. At least not in any way you can prove. Not this time. They’re well known for doing the same thing all over the South China Sea.
“Monster” is the official nickname of the Chinese Coast Guard’s prize possession. CCG 5901 is “the largest coast guard ship in the world” at a whopping 165-meters. To put that in perspective, it’s “larger than the size of a United States Navy Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser.”
Using Canada's Dark Vessel Detection technology, the Philippine Coast Guard was able to successfully track the movements of the Chinese Coast Guard's 165-meter monster ship, CCG-5901.
On July 1st, the ship departed from Hainan and entered the Philippines' Exclusive Economic… pic.twitter.com/29OFMnVh0X
— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) July 5, 2024
It also happens to pack “an H/PJ-26 76 mm naval gun, two 30 mm auxiliary guns, and two anti-aircraft guns.” The helicopter platform has a hanger “that can accommodate big rotary wing aircraft.” It is clearly “intimidating.”
It’s obvious that Xi Jinping was watching the recent presidential debate. He’s not expecting any response at all from Washington. Moving his monster ship into an anchored position on Saturday, July 6, is also clearly meant to send a signal to Manila that if they were expecting help from the U.S., forget it.
It entered “Manila’s 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2.” That’s when “the PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine’s EEZ and asked about their intentions.” Notice they didn’t demand a retreat. They were clearly intimidated.
Philippine’s won’t back down either
According to PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela, “it’s an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard. We’re not going to pull out and we’re not going to be intimidated.”
Once they were solidly in position, the Chinese monster “deployed a small boat” which subsequently “anchored 800 yards away from the PCG’s vessel.”
Along with claiming the island nation of Taiwan as it’s own territory, China lays disputed claim to most of the South China Sea. When it comes to squabbling over tiny, insignificant islands in the middle of an ocean, it usually comes down to the maxim that “possession is nine-tenth’s of the law.”
5-6 July: For the 3rd time in 30 days the world’s largest coast guard ship—🇨🇳#China’s 12K-ton CCG 5901—illuminated its AIS signal (it wanted to be seen) & patrolled 🇻🇳#Vietnam’s southern oil blocks.
Vietnam monitored its movements with fisheries surveillance ship Kiem Ngu 277. pic.twitter.com/KETh8sSXWp— Ray Powell (@GordianKnotRay) July 7, 2023
The Philippine’s maintain possession on St. Thomas shoal with a grounded wreck of a boat, manned by sailors who weren’t real popular with their superiors. Every time the supplies come in by boat, China tries to sink the boats. That recently escalated to a “pirate” style boarding with axes and knives. It’s also when the monster ship came sailing into the area.
China thinks having the largest monster boat in the region will help them enforce their claims to most of the South China Sea. In the global game of Risk, it’s a high stakes waterway. It also happens to be “a key conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade.”
The Pooh Bear laughed in the face of The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration when they said in 2016 that China’s “expansive maritime claims had no legal basis.” They may not have a legal leg to stand on but they have a monster boat with plenty of firepower.
