About 195 Chinese militia ships were present on any given day last year around key features in the South China Sea, according to a Washington-based think tank.
This is a â35-percent increaseâ compared with the 12-month period of 2021-2022, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (Amti) said in a Feb. 28 report, citing satellite imagery last year of 10 features across the South China Sea âknown to be frequented by Chinese militia ships.â
The images showed 180 militia ships in Panganiban (Mischief) Reef from June to August, compared with 37 vessels in 2022.
Amti described this increase as an âanomaly.â According to its report, the deployment of more vessels was also marked by âa dramatic shiftâ in their presence toward Panganiban Reef.
Panganiban Reef, which is about 232 kilometers from Palawan province, is part of the Philippinesâ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The think tank noted that China âfirst took possession of that feature in 1994.â
But it remained âunclearâ why China sent more militia vessels, Amti said. Still, it noted that Chinaâs militia remained as âactive as ever,â especially considering their role as âa force ⌠ostensibly engaged in commercial fishing but in fact operat[ing] alongside Chinese law enforcement and military.â
âLargest artificial islandâ
Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal told the Inquirer in an earlier interview that âMost likely the militia fleet is being sent [to areas where] it is best positioned to operate closer to the Philippines, and also because of availability of supplies and facilities for the vessels and crew.â
He pointed out that Panganiban Reef, under Chinaâs occupation, has become âthe largest artificial islandâ in the South China Sea.
The reef has port facilities that service the Peopleâs Liberation Army-Navy, the China Coast Guard (CCG) and militia ships, said Batongbacal, head of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the University of the Philippines.
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He said Panganiban Reef also has antiair and antiship missiles, radars and jammers. It is used as a base by Chinese surveillance aircraft and âcould also be used as an air base by combat aircraft,â he added.
Apart from Panganiban, âthe largest consistent groupings of militia ships continued to be seen at McKennan (Hughes) Reef and Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef,â Amti said of the two features still within the West Philippine Sea.
It added that a âpersistent militia presenceâ is also maintained near Gaven Reef, just outside the Philippinesâ EEZ, and at reefs east of Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island.
In January, Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said about 200 Chinese militia vessels, including 10 to 15 CCG ships, were spotted in the West Philippine Sea at any given day.
Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, told the Inquirer last week that the military plans to conduct more Maritime Cooperative Activities (MCAs), as the AFP calls its joint patrols and exercises with the United States and other allies.
âThe AFP is eager to conduct more MCAs in the future, with the goal of making it a routine and periodic exercise to enhance our interoperability not only with the US Armed Forces but with other like-minded countries as well,â she said.