Chinese Survey Vessel Returns to Guangdong After 30 Days in Philippine EEZ; PCG-Embassy Dispute Over Legality Continues

The Philippine Coast Guard confirmed on September 11, 2026 that the Chinese drilling-capable survey vessel Haiyang Dizhi Shihao had returned to Guangdong Province, China, closing out a voyage that saw it enter the Philippine exclusive economic zone at 11:54 a.m. on August 10, arrive off Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough/Panatag Shoal) the next day, exit the shoal's vicinity at 8:28 a.m. on September 8, and leave the Philippine EEZ altogether at 10:57 p.m. on September 9 — 30 days inside the EEZ in total, 28 of them off Scarborough Shoal, without a DFA-issued research permit. PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, said the vessel's slow, closely-spaced movement pattern was consistent with marine scientific research: 'You don't stay more than 25 days in an area with measured, distanced movements forming a pattern,' he said, adding that the PCG tracked the vessel throughout — including stretches when it switched off its Automatic Identification System — with assistance from Canada's Dark Vessel Detection program. The Chinese Embassy in Manila, through deputy spokesperson Guo Wei, rejected the illegality claim, saying the vessel operated in what Beijing considers its own territory and arguing Scarborough Shoal was never defined as part of Philippine territory under Spain's 1898 Treaty of Paris with the United States. Tarriela countered that the DFA had confirmed no permit was ever issued for marine scientific research inside the Philippine EEZ, calling the vessel's presence illegal regardless of Beijing's territorial argument.