MANILA: The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Sunday reported a recent incident of “close distance maneuvering” by a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel in the disputed South China Sea that “constrained” the movement of a Philippine ship sailing nearby.
The March 2 incident took place during the PCG’s maritime patrol operations around the Scarborough Shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, the PCG said in a news release.
It was yet unclear whether the Philippines had lodged a diplomatic protest for the incident. The PCG said it had to wait for the go-signal from the country’s National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea before making the incident public.
The incident involved a CCG vessel with bow number 3305 that conducted close distance maneuvering over an area of approximately 21 yards (19.2 meters) in the direction of Philippine vessel BRP Malabrigo, the PCG said.
“This constrained the maneuvering space of BRP Malabrigo — a clear violation of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS),” the PCG said.
The PCG had asked the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to help address the issue through “rules-based and peaceful approaches,” according to the PCG commandant, Admiral Artemio Abu.
The DFA and the Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China lays claim to most of the waters within a so-called Nine Dash Line in the South China Sea, which is also contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Abu said it was the fourth reported incident of close distance maneuvering involving CCG and Philippine vessels in the Scarborough Shoal since May last year.
Despite the risks, Abu said the deployment of Philippine assets and personnel to waters within the country’s exclusive economic zones would continue.
Philippines slams Chinese ship’s ‘close distance maneuvering’ at Scarborough Shoal
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Philippines slams Chinese ship’s ‘close distance maneuvering’ at Scarborough Shoal
- It is yet unclear whether the Philippines had lodged a diplomatic protest for the incident
NATO wants ‘automated’ defenses along borders with Russia: German general
- That zone would act as a defensive buffer before any enemy forces advanced into “a sort of hot zone,” said Lowin
- The AI-guided system would reinforce existing NATO weapons and deployed forces, the general said
FRANKFURT: NATO is moving to boost its defenses along European borders with Russia by creating an AI-assisted “automated zone” not reliant on human ground forces, a German general said in comments published Saturday.
That zone would act as a defensive buffer before any enemy forces advanced into “a sort of hot zone” where traditional combat could happen, said General Thomas Lowin, NATO’s deputy chief of staff for operations.
He was speaking to the German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
The automated area would have sensors to detect enemy forces and activate defenses such as drones, semi-autonomous combat vehicles, land-based robots, as well as automatic air defenses and anti-missile systems, Lowin said.
He added, however, that any decision to use lethal weapons would “always be under human responsibility.”
The sensors — located “on the ground, in space, in cyberspace and in the air” — would cover an area of several thousand kilometers (miles) and detect enemy movements or deployment of weapons, and inform “all NATO countries in real time,” he said.
The AI-guided system would reinforce existing NATO weapons and deployed forces, the general said.
The German newspaper reported that there were test programs in Poland and Romania trying out the proposed capabilities, and all of NATO should be working to make the system operational by the end of 2027.
NATO’s European members are stepping up preparedness out of concern that Russia — whose economy is on a war footing because of its conflict in Ukraine — could seek to further expand, into EU territory.
Poland is about to sign a contract for “the biggest anti-drone system in Europe,” its defense minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Kosiniak-Kamysz did not say how much the deal, involving “different types of weaponry,” would cost, nor which consortium would ink the contract at the end of January.
He said it was being made to respond to “an urgent operational demand.”
