Philippine Coast Guard Confronts Chinese Militia Ship And Drives 22 Boats From Island Waters

The Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine military personnel drove away a Chinese maritime militia vessel and 22 fishing boats from the territorial sea of Kota Island on October 9 after spotting them fishing close to shore.

Coast Guard personnel spotted the Chinese boats around 3 p.m., with the nearest sampan approximately 250 meters from the island. The vessels were reportedly fishing without authorization and dumping waste at sea.

At 3:30 p.m., two Philippine Coast Guard rubber boats carrying personnel from several units, a medical staff member and three Philippine Marines headed out to confront the fleet. Philippine Navy personnel provided radio and communications support from shore.

During the operation, the Chinese mothership circled the Philippine boats, while its master used hand signals to claim the area and order the Philippine team to leave. The Coast Guard team pushed the sampans away one by one over approximately two hours. One boat initially refused to leave, resulting in minor contact, but no injuries or damage were reported.

By 5:30 p.m., all Chinese vessels had withdrawn to approximately 3.5 nautical miles from Kota Island and departed northwest.

The Coast Guard said the same Chinese maritime militia vessel, identified as CMMV 9622, had been driven away from the island on September 28, when it deployed 24 sampans near the shoreline.