PCG Says Drilling-Capable Chinese Survey Ship Spent 25 Days in Philippine EEZ, Three Weeks Inside Scarborough Shoal's Territorial Sea, Without a Permit

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, said on September 4, 2026 that the Chinese marine geological survey vessel Haiyang Dizhi Shihao entered the Philippines' exclusive economic zone near-midnight on August 10 and remained until around September 1 — a 25-day presence, including roughly three weeks inside the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea of Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal/Panatag Shoal). Tarriela said the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed no permit had been issued for the vessel to conduct marine scientific research. 'She is not an ordinary research ship,' Tarriela said, noting the 76-meter vessel is operated by the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey under China's Ministry of Natural Resources and is drilling-capable, having previously conducted seafloor drilling to a depth of over 300 meters in 2023 and spent seven weeks surveying Indonesia's EEZ in the North Natuna Sea in 2021. The PCG said the ship disabled its Automatic Identification System for stretches of the voyage and was tracked with help from Canada's Dark Vessel Detection program; it was escorted by China Coast Guard vessels and withdrew ahead of the ASEAN Summit. Tarriela noted the intrusion occurred while the Philippines was contending with typhoons and monsoon flooding. A follow-up PCG statement on September 5 reiterated the findings as diplomatic protest tallies were separately disclosed to Congress on September 3, when the DFA told a budget hearing it had lodged 296 diplomatic protests against China since 2022, 39 of them in 2026 alone.