The Philippines said it has identified three Chinese research vessels operating in its waters, reigniting concerns over China's use of such ships for spying under the guise of marine research.
Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the vessels—the Xiang Yang Hong 3, Xiang Yang Hong 10 and Jia Geng—were first observed on November 17, about 257 nautical miles (296 miles) northeast of Santa Ana in the northeast Luzon part of Cagayan province.
The ships were later found to have entered the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on November 14 and November 20. International maritime law grants coastal states exclusive rights to natural resources within their EEZs, which extend 200 nautical miles from the coastline.
By Saturday, the vessels were reportedly operating 211 nautical miles east of Siargao, a small island in the Philippine Sea, Tarriela said.
China's deployment of research ships has sparked accusations of espionage from its neighbors, including the Philippines, India and Taiwan. These vessels, often referred to as "spy ships," are equipped with advanced technology capable of gathering oceanographic, and potentially strategic, data.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese foreign ministry outside of normal office hours with a written request for comment.
In July, the Jia Geng, a seismic research vessel associated with Xiamen University, was intercepted by Taiwan's coast guard near Yilan County. Images and radio broadcasts shared with Newsweek by ship-spotting group Taiwan ADIZ documented the Taiwanese vessel warning the Chinese ship that it had entered "prohibited or restricted" waters.
A January report by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyzed 64 Chinese survey and research vessels active since 2020. The study concluded that over 80 percent of these ships had shown suspicious behavior or were linked to organizations advancing Beijing's geopolitical interests.
"China has developed the world's largest fleet of civilian research vessels. While these ships support scientific and commercial objectives, they are also being used to advance Beijing's strategic ambitions," the CSIS authors wrote.
While these operations have predominantly been monitored in the South China Sea and Western Pacific, the CSIS reported a growing presence in the Indian Ocean.
In March, a Xiang Yang Hong-class research vessel was detected near India's Visakhapatnam port, coinciding with tests of its Agni-5 ballistic missile. Indian media pointed out that Visakhapatnam is where India also bases its three nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, "arguably the most sensitive weapons systems in India's arsenal."
The Chinese vessels' presence near the Philippines comes as Beijing and Manila remain locked in a bitter territorial dispute over China's increasingly assertive presence within the Southeast Asian' country's EEZ.
Tarriela on Monday shared video footage of what appeared to be a Chinese navy helicopter, accusing it of harassing fishing vessels at the disputed Iroquois Reef.
China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, demarcated by its "dashed line," overlap with competing territorial claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling invalidating China's claims, Beijing has continued its assertive presence in the region.
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