Overview
- Two China Coast Guard vessels escorted the state survey ship Xiang Yang Hong 22 while it operated inside the overlapping Japan–Philippines exclusive economic zone for three days from June 16 to June 18, according to AIS data and geospatial analysis.
- Japan has formally protested the navigation as unacceptable and deployed coast guard ships and aircraft to monitor the Chinese vessels after detecting repeated incursions south of Yonaguni Island.
- Beijing describes the activities as lawful maritime enforcement and resource surveys, and state media and the ship’s crew said the work helped build a basis for protecting China’s maritime territory.
- Other recent actions tied to the same pattern include a Chinese survey ship lowering a pipe-like object near the Senkaku area and patrols and a temporary floating platform reported at Scarborough Shoal, prompting protests from Manila.
- Experts say the incidents reflect a deliberate gray-zone strategy using coast guard and civilian assets to create records of activity, a tactic that could complicate EEZ delimitation talks and raise risks to fishing, shipping and regional diplomacy.