Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that cyberattacks by Chinese warships on his country’s vessels was becoming a “worrisome” trend said a Reuters report.
“It’s worrisome because there are two elements to that. One, dati Coast Guard lang ng China ang gumagalaw doon sa area natin, ngayon may Navy na, sumama pa mga fishing boat. So nagbabago ang sitwasyon,” said Marcos. (It’s worrisome because there are two elements to that. One, before it was just the Chinese Coast Guard moving in our area, now it is the Navy with the fishing boats. So the situation is changing.
The news comes as the local media broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines, The Philippine Star quoted Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, spokesperson for the Philippine Navy for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) matters, as saying on Tuesday that there has been an increase in cyberattacks on the country’s military ships in the past three to four years.
Commodore Roy however had made it clear that there was no conclusive proof to state that China was behind these specific attacks.
According to local media reports Manila has been accusing Beijing of harassing its vessels in the WPS through the use of water cannons and military-grade vessels that blind the crews. Last Sunday, The Star reported that the ships from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were unable to transmit their AIS and alleged that China’s Coast Guard (CCG) had been behind the problem.
The AIS is an Automatic Identification System that transmits the location of the ship so it can not only be identified by other ships in the case of an emergency but also through ground stations and satellites. It is necessary for collision avoidance and to transmit distress calls.
Commander Roy said it was not just AIS that was the problem. “It’s not on the AIS (Automatic Identification System); it’s on the communications on the ships and land communication. Not only with our communications aboard ship or on land but also cell phones,” he said in the press conference.
He however added that so far this had not reached a stage where his country’s maritime operations had been compromised.
Problems between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea have been escalating for some time. Last week, the South China Morning Post quoted the Philippines president accusing China of “internationally destroying” the Scarborough Shoal. The area is disputed between the two nations and Manila has accused China of intentionally using cyanide the rich fish life there.
Beijing denies the allegations and a Global Times report stated that the “Philippines remains a major cyanide fishing country in the world, with a significant number of Filipino fishermen using cyanide for fishing each year.”
