China Denies 'Monster Ship' Accusation

China has denied that it parked its largest Coast Guard ship, nicknamed “the monster ship,” near the Philippines to intimidate its neighbor, with which it is engaged in an escalating dispute.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told the press Monday that Sabina Shoal, the feature where the vessel had anchored for days, was among China’s South China Sea islands and “not the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.”

The Spratly Islands’ Sabina Shoal sits about 700 miles from the nearest Chinese shores and fewer than 150 miles from the Philippine province of Palawan, within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). International maritime law accords states the sole right to natural resources within their EEZs.

Beijing claims historical rights over most of the energy-rich South China Sea, including areas claimed by Manila and several other neighbors. Pushback from the U.S. ally under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has resulted in increasingly forceful responses from China, with a clash last month leaving several Philippine troops injured.

This photo shows China’s “monster” Coast Guard ship CCG-5901 on July 5. The Philippines says the 540-foot vessel occupied waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone for days, with Manila saying the intent was intimidation….

Philippine Coast Guard

Lin said patrolling and “law enforcement activities” conducted near Sabina Shoal by China’s Coast Guard and military are “within China’s domestic law and international law, including UNCLOS,” using the acronym for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In fact, a Hague, Netherlands-based international tribunal in 2016 largely dismissed China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea in its ruling, citing the U.N. convention. Beijing maintains that the decision is invalid.

The Philippines’ Coast Guard said it tracked the “monster ship,” CCG-5901, entering the country’s EEZ on July 2. This was the same day Chinese and Philippine representatives met for talks aimed at reducing tensions following the violent June 17 confrontation.

On June 3, the ship reportedly sailed directly to the South China Sea hotspot Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines maintains a remote military outpost that Beijing says is illegal. Later that day, the vessel headed toward Sabina Shoal, where it shrugged off radio challenges from the Philippine Coast Guard, spokesperson Jay Tarriela wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Displacing 12,000 tons and about 540 feet in length, the “monster ship” is over 100 feet longer than the largest active U.S. Coast Guard cutters and about one-and-a-half times longer than the largest Philippine naval vessel.

“It’s an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard,” Tarriela said about the ship’s presence while attending a forum on Saturday. “We’re not going to pull out and we’re not going to be intimidated.”