Philippine coast guard says China ship conducting illegal survey within EEZ, Asia News
MANILA — The Philippines has deployed a coast guard vessel and an aircraft to challenge and escort a Chinese research ship it said was conducting illegal marine scientific research activities within the country's exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese Research Vessel (CRV) Tan Suo 3 was detected entering the country's EEZ on May 1, 2025, around 92 nautical miles off the Philippines' northern Ilocos coast, the PCG said in a statement on Monday.
"Their irregular movements were deemed inconsistent with the freedom of navigation and indicative of marine scientific research activities, which violate the sovereign rights of the Philippines," the PCG said.
It said it launched a maritime law enforcement operation to challenge the Chinese vessel's presence, and had prevented the vessel from continuing its "unlawful activities."
During the operation, the PCG reported spotting a manned deep-sea submersible, named the Shenhai Yongshi or Deep-Sea Warrior, which was retrieved by the Chinese vessel.
The submersible is capable of diving to 4,500 metres and is typically deployed for deep-sea exploration and scientific missions, the PCG said.
It said it also observed a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat recovering a yellow-coloured, unidentified piece of equipment potentially linked to marine research.
"These actions of the CRV serves as clear evidence that the People's Republic of China are conducting illegal marine scientific research activities within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, lacking the legal authority to undertake such activities in this area," the PCG said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[[nid:717492]]
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Debt to decarbonisation: challenges for Nippon Steel
[TOKYO] Nippon Steel on Saturday (Jun 14) touted a 'historic partnership' with US Steel after US President Donald Trump approved a multi-billion-dollar merger. But the Japanese giant faces numerous headwinds going forward. Here are some of the challenges facing the company, from trade tariffs to lacklustre global demand: US conditions Nippon Steel and US Steel said they had 'entered into a National Security Agreement' with the US government, which 'provides that approximately US$11 billion in new investments will be made by 2028'. Former president Joe Biden had blocked the deal on national security grounds shortly before leaving the White House. Other conditions include a so-called 'golden share' for the US government, giving it more control over the company, as well as non-specified 'commitments' related to domestic production and trade. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'All necessary regulatory approvals for the partnership have now been received, and the partnership is expected to be finalised promptly,' the companies said. Financial burden Ratings agency S&P last month said that the 'huge financial burden' of the deal could cause it to downgrade Nippon Steel more severely than planned. Bloomberg Intelligence's Michelle Leung also warned in May that the US$14.9 billion merger would 'significantly increase the Japanese firm's debt burden from the current US$16.7 billion'. 'A deal might help Nippon Steel diversify beyond its sluggish domestic market, though it would need to invest heavily to help repair the ageing assets of US Steel,' she said. Some shareholders have expressed alarm, with activist investor 3D Investment Partners calling for opposition to the reappointment of Nippon Steel executives at an upcoming annual general meeting. 'This level of capital outlay' risks an 'irreversible impairment of corporate value', it warned. Tariff threat 'Weak domestic and overseas demand for steel products and the indirect effects of US tariffs imposed on steel' will likely hit Nippon Steel's earnings, S&P said. The company has warned that global steel demand is 'in an unprecedented state of crisis' – a trend fuelled by sluggish economic activity, oversupply in the market and fewer public infrastructure projects. It will also need to grapple with Trump's tariff offensive – with levies on steel and aluminium imports recently doubled to 50 per cent. In Japan, the ageing population is weighing on demand for steel, but exporting is also becoming more challenging as other countries boost local production. To address this, Nippon Steel has strengthened its international presence by acquiring Indian and Thai steelmakers. The US Steel merger is part of this strategy – it will allow Nippon Steel to achieve global crude steel production capacity of 86 million tonnes a year, up from 66 million tonnes currently, it said. Chinese overproduction Global steel demand is growing at a pace of less than one percent per year, which is mismatched with the anticipated 6.7 per cent jump in production capacities by 2027, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That will likely cause a price drop, threatening many steelmakers. Much of this surplus is subsidised by China, the world's largest steel producer, in what the OECD characterises as a 'policy distortion'. Steel exports from China have more than doubled since 2020, prompting regions including the European Union to launch anti-dumping investigations. Chinese demand for steel is slowing and the country's 'exporting spree... is aimed at driving up its GDP', Ryunosuke Shibata of SBI Securities told AFP. 'A vast amount of steel is flowing into Asia at prices that are barely profitable,' sparking a 'wave of price competition', Shibata said. Costly decarbonisation Japan has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, as governments worldwide work to curb their emissions. As part of its own efforts to produce less planet-warming carbon dioxide, Nippon Steel has announced a US$6 billion plan to build, modify or restart three less polluting 'electric arc' furnaces at different sites. Around a third of the funding will come from the government. But the investment 'could lead to mounting financial costs' as production from the facilities will not start before the 2029 financial year, Leung said. AFP
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
US adversaries fuel disinformation about LA protests
Protestes waving Mexican and US flags face off with police during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, on June 9. PHOTO: AFP WASHINGTON - Russia, China and Iran are amplifying disinformation about protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, researchers said on June 13, adding to a surge of domestically generated falsehoods and conspiracy theories. The findings from researchers at the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard illustrate how foreign adversaries of the United States are exploiting deep divisions in American society as a tactic of information warfare. NewsGuard said Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state-affiliated sources have published around 10,000 posts and articles about the demonstrations that recently erupted in Los Angeles, advancing false claims framing the city as 'ground zero in an American apocalypse.' Seizing on the political rift between President Donald Trump and Governor Gavin Newsom, pro-China accounts on X and Chinese platforms such as Douyin and Weibo have peddled unfounded claims that California was ready to secede from the United States and declare independence. Meanwhile, Tehran-based newspapers have peddled the false claim that popular Iranian singer-songwriter Andranik Madadian had been detained by the National Guard in Los Angeles, in an apparent effort to portray the United States as an authoritarian state. NewsGuard quoted Madadian, better known by his stage name Andy, as denying the claim, stating: 'I am fine. Please don't believe these rumors.' Russian media and pro-Russian influencers, meanwhile, has embraced right-wing conspiracy theories, including the unfounded claim that the Mexican government was stoking the demonstrations against Trump's immigration policies. 'The demonstrations are unfolding at the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities such as eroded trust in institutions, AI chatbots amplifying false claims about the unrest, political polarization, and a rollback of safety and moderation efforts by major platforms,' Ms McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher with NewsGuard, told AFP. 'As a result, foreign actors have a wide-open playing field to flood the zone with falsehoods at a faster rate and fewer barriers compared to previous moments of unrest,' she added. The apparent alignment across the three countries was noteworthy, Sadeghi said. 'While Russia, China, and Iran regularly push their own unique forms of disinformation, it's less common to see them move in such a coordinated fashion like this,' she said. 'This time, state media outlets have escalated their messaging to advance their geopolitical interests and deflect attention from their own domestic crises.' The disinformation comes on top of false narratives promoted by US-based influencers. In recent days, conservative social media users have circulated two photographs of brick piles they claimed were strategically placed for the California protesters to hurl at police and inflame violence. The photos were cited as proof that the protests were fuelled by nonprofit organisations supported by George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who has long been a bogeyman for the far right. But AFP's fact-checkers found that one photo was lifted from an online marketplace, where a Malaysian hardware dealer uploaded it years ago, while the other was snapped near a construction site in New Jersey. 'Every time there's a popular protest, the old clickbaity 'pallets of bricks' hoax shows up right on cue,' the Social Media Lab, a research center at the Toronto Metropolitan University, wrote on the platform Bluesky. 'The fact that these types of fake images are used isn't a coincidence. It's part of a pernicious (and) persistent narrative that protests against government policies are somehow inauthentic.' AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
China didn't just survive decoupling, it turned it into strategy
WHEN the first Trump administration pushed for decoupling from China, it was framed as a geopolitical warning shot. Decoupling was meant to be a chokehold – a way to cut China off from capital, consumers, and core technologies. However, Beijing did not panic, it treated the move as a strategic signal. Rather than resist, China began quietly reconfiguring its global economic footprint. Washington thought it was cornering China. US President Donald Trump thought he held the cards, controlled the chips and set the rules. But he missed one inconvenient truth: Most of those cards were printed, packed, and shipped from factories in China. No grand speeches. No drama. Just deliberate moves: Diversifying supply chains, investing abroad, and pushing local tech to close the gap. While American legislators staged hearings, Chinese firms inked deals. While one side debated restrictions, the other redrew its map. The result? A calibrated diversification of supply chains, not as an act of retreat, but of repositioning. Supply chains with Chinese characteristics Over the past five years, Chinese firms have accelerated investments across South-east Asia, particularly in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. These moves weren't just about evading tariffs; they reflected something deeper – the private sector's instinct to escape the involution of domestic competition. Rather than grind through China's crowded and laser-thin margin markets where capital quickly pile into the same trends, many entrepreneurs sought arbitrage abroad. Lower labour costs, less stiff competition and higher margins. In other words: less involution, more unfair advantage (over the local players in the overseas markets) . BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up But this wasn't a solo act. Beijing provided the scaffolding – through bilateral free trade agreements, infrastructure lending and sometimes diplomatic cover. It's market-driven, but state-supported. A relay race between private initiative and public policy. The numbers are telling. China's foreign direct investment into Asean nearly tripled, from around US$9 billion in 2016 to over US$25 billion in 2023. Bilateral trade with Asean grew from US$486 billion to nearly US$700 billion over the same period. And critically, much of this new value chain – from intellectual property (IP) to logistics to upstream components – remains under Chinese control. What's emerging is not just offshoring, it is a China-centric supply chain, just not physically in China. Washington turns inward, Beijing looks outward While China was expanding outward, the US focused inward. Rather than competing through innovation or strengthening ties, Washington's toolkit leaned heavily on bans and restrictions – cue TikTok, Huawei, WeChat, DJI. Legislative energy went into hearings and symbolic gestures. Meanwhile, Chinese companies opened factories, expanded exports, and deepened market ties. Firms like Midea acquired global assets such as Germany's robotics maker KUKA and Spanish appliance manufacturer Teka Group. BYD set up electric vehicle (EV) plants in Hungary and Brazil, while Wuling manufactured their mini EVs in Indonesia. Consumer names such as Mixue, Luckin Coffee and Chagee have also become household names across South-east Asia in recent years. Industrial giants such as the likes of CATL, Trina Solar, and Sungrow now dominate global energy supply chains. Technological independence under pressure Despite export bans and semiconductor restrictions, China has made visible progress in core technologies. Domestic players have achieved 7nanometre (nm) chip production and are pushing into DUV (deep ultraviolet) and potentially EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography. AI chips are now a top priority for firms like Huawei and SMIC. In aviation, Comac's C919 took flight, further reducing dependency on Airbus and Boeing. In rare earths, China has not only consolidated upstream and midstream operations but also introduced tighter controls and oversight. This has significantly strengthened Beijing's ability to enforce export restrictions and wield rare earths as a strategic bargaining chip in ongoing trade negotiations. Early signs of strategic payoff Recent trade data shows that China's preparations since Trump's first term are bearing fruit. In May 2025, despite a sharp 35 per cent drop in exports to the US, overall exports rose 4.8 per cent year on year. This plunge in exports to the US was somewhat cushioned by strong performance in Asean (15 per cent), the European Union (12 per cent), and Africa (33 per cent). Germany and Vietnam both saw a 22 per cent jump in imports from China. Over the past month, the US now accounts for just 10 per cent of China's total exports. From being China's largest trading partner, it is gradually becoming just one of many customers and, arguably, not a very reliable one. The decoupling irony The more ironical part of all this is that by seeking to isolate China, the US may have isolated itself. Supply chains rerouted. Markets matured. Chinese firms globalised. The geopolitical chessboard shifted, without much fanfare, but with deliberate execution. For foreign investors and policymakers, the lesson is clear. While one side drew lines, the other built bridges. One end of the world conducted a bi-partisan witch-hunt while the other silently reinvent themselves. And in doing so, China has turned decoupling from a defensive stance into a strategic advantage. The ship hasn't just sailed – it's already halfway to its next destination. The writer, a seasoned economist, adviser and entrepreneur, is an affiliate lecturer at Singapore Management University
