MANILA – The Philippine Navy's (PN) Naval Defense Command (NDC) announced that one of its guided missile frigates, the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-6), was reportedly scanned by a "fire control radar" (FCR) of a Chinese corvette in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on March 7.
"While underway at (the vicinity of) Sabina Shoal within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, Chinese PLA (People's Liberation Army)-Navy ship with bow number 622 Jiangkai class corvette aimed its FCR towards BRP Miguel Malvar, exercising freedom of navigation and adhering to international law of order in the WPS," the NDC said in a Facebook post Thursday night.
It added that China's use of a targeting radar against a PN vessel was an "alarming and escalatory act."
The NDC said the behavior reflected a pattern of coercion that endangers lives, disrupts lawful operations, and challenges the sovereignty of coastal states.
The incident took place as the ship was steaming toward Naval Operating Base in Subic, Zambales after attending the 3rd International Fleet Review and Multilateral Navy Exercise, which took place Feb. 18 to 26 in India.
On its way to the port, the Filipino ship detected "emissions" coming from the Chinese corvette that indicated that it was targeting its FCR towards BRP Miguel Malvar.
It prompted the BRP Miguel Malvar to issue a radio challenge and told the Chinese ship to leave the area to avoid misunderstanding.
No other escalatory actions took place afterwards, although the Chinese corvette tailed BRP Miguel Malvar for a few hours before leaving.
Alarming, provocative
As this developed, a ranking Navy official also on Friday said the Chinese warship's FCR scanning of BRP Miguel Malvar was an "alarming and provocative action that created unnecessary risk and could have led to misinterpretation and misunderstanding at sea."
In a message to the Philippine News Agency Friday, PN spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the incident highlights the needs of all nations to act with restraint and professionalism.
"BRP Miguel Malvar immediately issued a radio challenge in accordance with standard procedures in the WPS and directed the foreign vessel to cease such unprofessional and dangerous behavior. The PLA Navy vessel eventually stowed its fire control radar, indicating that it heeded the radio challenge and backed down from that particular action," he added.
At the time of the incident, the PN official said the BRP Miguel Malvar was conducting a maritime sovereignty patrol with the vicinity of Sabina Shoal.
Despite the incident, Trinidad reiterated that ships and aircraft of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will continue to conduct lawful maritime patrols and sovereignty patrols within its exclusive economic zone, consistent with international law and the country’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction.
"We remain firm in protecting our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the WPS, while advocating for the peaceful and rules-based resolution of disputes," he added. (PNA)