(UPDATES) A CHINESE research vessel came within just 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) from Palawan late Friday, according to a US-based maritime monitor in the South China Sea.

The Ke Xue San Hao, a Chinese research vessel, has been surveying the areas south and east of the Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea since July 25, according to SeaLight.

Retired United States Air Force Col. Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, said the ship has been surveying the reefs and shoals west of Palawan for the past week.

Powell said the ship began its survey operations after passing by China's military base at Panganiban (Mischief) Reef on July 26.

He said Ke Xue San Hao "traveled through the area around a host of submerged features south and east of Sabina Shoal, including First Thomas Shoal, Half Moon Shoal, Bombay Shoal, Royal Captain Shoal, Northeast Investigator Shoal and Boxall Reef."

Based on satellite imagery, the ship passed within 600 meters of First Thomas Shoal, about 35 kilometers south of Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, on July 29.

"This is the first recorded appearance of the Ke Xue San Hao in Philippine waters since May 2020, when it explored an area 60 nautical miles east of Northern Luzon over a four-day period," said Powell.

"In sending the survey ship to within 40 nautical miles of the coast Palawan, China may be signaling its intent to keep the pressure on elsewhere in the West Philippine Sea despite loosening its blockade of the Philippine outpost [in Ayungin]," he said.

Ke Xue Hao was also the same Chinese research vessel that conducted "scientific research" in the Philippine Rise in 2018.

The Philippine government has warned that countries whose vessels were found conducting marine scientific research (MSR) activities in Philippine waters without the necessary clearances would be the subject of diplomatic protests.

The last MSR application was granted by the Department of Foreign Affairs in December 2017 to China involving research activities in northeastern Luzon and Mindanao.

Lack of transparency

Meanwhile, an anti-war coalition decried the Marcos administration's lack of transparency in the "many" military agreements that it has entered into, most of which are with the United States and its allied countries amid its territorial disputes with China.

In an interview, lawyer Virginia Suarez of the Stop the War Coalition-Philippines and Pagkakaisa ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (Kaisa Ka) cited the recent defense pact signed by the Philippines and Singapore.

The agreement supposedly allows the militaries of the two countries to broaden their engagement, but few details were given about how the pact could help address the ongoing security concerns in the region.

Suarez said the terms of engagement were only disclosed by officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

"Aside from not being immediately made public, the Philippine government has provided few details about the defense pact," Suarez said.

She said Manila also forged new security alliances with several Asian and Western countries, including the status-of-forces agreement with Japan, which allowed large-scale joint combat exercises.

Suarez was referring to the Philippines and Japan defense pact named the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which authorizes the deployment of their forces in each other's territory for joint military exercises.

She described the RAA as another visiting forces agreement (VFA) that was just "copy-pasted" from the one signed by the US and the Philippines.

Suarez also criticized the emphasis made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the need for a US military presence for Asian stability and peace.

She also focused on the misapprehension of the $500 million new funding announced by the US to boost the Philippines' external military defense and modernization.

"The US will not help for free. Actually, they don't give anything for free; they just sell us their old weapons," said Suarez.

"It's sad because everything that is said to be given as a grant is actually a debt that we have to pay. In addition to what they say is aid that is actually debt," she said.

Suarez also noted the recent visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which was "to ensure interoperability, humanitarian assistance and disaster risk reduction."

"But Typhoon Carina has just ended, and there is now an oil spill, but where is the US in all of this? So, obviously, this [visit] is really focused on militarization," she said.

Suarez said the "fondness" of Manila with Washington was making the country look like it was still a colony of the US, "that our country is an occupied territory of America."

"So all these military agreements are dictated by the US, and this could actually drag the Philippines into the wars of the US," she said.

Suarez said that the US actually supported many wars, such as the Ukraine-Russia armed conflict, or has started many previous wars.

"The scary thing is that it wants to go to war with China using the Philippines as a proxy," she said. "The US war will not happen on its own soil; it wants to do it in another country like the Philippines."

Suarez said looking back, China became more aggressive in the South China Sea in 2015 which was the time when the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) "came into existence."

"China became even more aggressive with the addition of four EDCA sites because it thinks that the Philippines is a pawn, making the country a springboard for the US," she said.

Suarez said that the best thing for the Philippines was to be non-aligned, "just as Vietnam does not enter into any military block, it also does not agree to have foreign soldiers in its country, it also does not agree to have military agreements."

She said this should be the position of the government, even though the country has so-called territorial disputes with China.

"The best thing is for the Southeast Asian countries to resolve this and talk with China without the US. As long as the US is in the picture, we will be in even more danger," said Suarez.

"Let's not align with the countries that are leading the war," she said.

The Philippine Coast Guard said a 2,400-ton Vietnam Coast Guard vessel was expected to arrive in Manila on Monday and will stay in the country for four days.

The PCG said it would train with Vietnam's coast guard in responding to different scenarios in international waters.

It is the first visit to the Philippines by a Vietnamese coast guard vessel.

The Philippines and Vietnam are two of the main claimants to waters in the South China Sea, the vast majority of which China claims.

The joint coast guard exercises between the Philippines and Vietnam follow several maritime drills that Manila conducted with other allied nations.

On Friday, the Philippines and Japan held their first joint exercises in the South China Sea.

The drills with Japan followed a "joint sail" on Wednesday by the US Navy's Mobile and the Philippine Navy's Ramon Alcaraz in the waters off Palawan.

The joint sail came as Austin and Blinken paid a call to President Marcos in conjunction with the 2-plus-2 Consultative Meeting in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.