China Coast Guard 5901 has been prowling the West Philippine Sea since January. It had been intermittently spotted in Philippine waters before. This time, it appears intent on staying.
No amount of radio challenges from the Philippine Coast Guard could get it to go away. What’s even more concerning is that this hulk of a vessel — the world’s largest coast guard ship — has been sailing as close as 65 nautical miles from Philippine shores. That’s very well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
What does this ‘monster ship’s’ presence mean to the Philippines? Are we seeing a new coercive tactic in expansionist geopolitics? Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug tells us all about it in this episode. – Rappler.com
Writer, presenter: Marites Vitug
Producer: JC Gotinga
Videographer: Jeff Digma
Video editor: Jaene Zaplan
Graphic artists: Raffy de Guzman, Andoy Edoria
Supervising producer: Beth Frondoso