The Philippine Coast Guard has confronted a Chinese ship that was moving close toward the coast of Zambales province.  

According to the PCG, BRP Cabra challenged China Coast Guard vessel CCG-3302 which was detected approaching within 83 to 85 nautical miles off the coast of Palauig, Zambales.  

"The 44-meter BRP Cabra boldly confronted the larger 99-meter CCG vessel, asserting its rightful presence within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)," the PCG said in a statement.

The challenge emphasized that the CCG's illegal patrol violates the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award.

"The PCG remains resolute in its patriotic duty to patrol the Exclusive Economic Zone, aiming to prevent the normalization of illegal Chinese activities while documenting the CCG's illegal patrols in the Philippines' West Philippine Sea," said the PCG.

China claims most of the South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and its coast guard has clashed repeatedly with that of the Philippines. - with a report from Agence France-Presse