Chinese Research Ship Traverses Luzon Coastline Amid Multilateral Naval Exercises

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has raised alarms over the highly suspicious movements of Lan Hai 101, one of China’s two largest fisheries research vessels, as it precisely navigated Luzon’s coastline from February 9 to 12, while maintaining a 24 to 25 nautical mile distance. Observed from Palawan to Babuyan Islands, the vessel’s trajectory has fueled suspicions that the ship is conducting covert intelligence gathering rather than exercising innocent maritime passage – a right protected under international law. 

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