Daybreak on HMCS Ottawa began with a call over the marine radio from a Chinese warship.

“Canada warship 341, Canada Warship 341, this is Chinese Navy Warship.”

The call was heard across the bridge inside HMCS Ottawa, and prompted Commanding Officer, Adriano Lozar, to come up from his Captains quarters to take the helm of his ship and respond.

The call is coming from a Chinese Frigate known as the Yuncheng, the warship has been shadowing HMCS Ottawa through the South China Sea for two days and counting.

After a brief pause, the call continues “This is Chinese Navy Warship … The sea is in poor condition.”

It’s a request for HMCS Ottawa to share its coordinates to ensure the safety of both vessels. It’s a seemingly friendly gesture, and one that this Canadian Navy crew have never received before. HMCS Ottawa staff believe the Chinese Navy is aware that CTV News is onboard documenting this particular deployment.

The looming presence of China’s warships is expected. On this day, the Royal Canadian Navy is travelling just west of the Spratly islands, where China has built fully functioning airstrips and military bases.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim to own the islands.

HMCS Ottawa is in the South China Sea, taking part in Operation Horizon to promote safety and rules-based maritime order. Some fear China’s militarization in these waters could give Beijing strategic leverage across the region.

Retired major general, David Fraser believes that “what China is trying to do is rewrite the rulebook, which then adversely affects the sovereignty of Taiwan, the sovereignty of the Philippines and other nations in the region.”

Fraser adds that he believes similarities can be found in Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, which led to the invasion of Ukraine

“China is watching to see how much they can get away with by using Russia as the proxy,” said Fraser, who adds that “the Chinese have this thing. They will wait for the time and opportunity, but their aspirations have not changed. We (Canada) have to take them seriously.”

These waters hold the keys to more than just claims of military superiority, the South China Sea hosts one-third of global shipping and is believed to be holding more than 11-billion barrels of untapped oil deep beneath its sea floor.