PH Navy: More Chinese ships seen in WPS

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said it has monitored a total of 163 Chinese vessels in the West Philippines Sea (AFP) in the past week.

This is the highest number of Chinese vessels that the Philippine Navy has monitored in the past three months.

From August 20 to 26, 127 Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels, 18 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships, 16 China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels, and two research vessels have been spotted in the WPS.

These Chinese vessels were seen in the following WPS features:

• Bajo de Masinloc - five CCGs, three PLANs, nine CMMs, one research vessel
• Ayungin Shoal - three CCGs, one PLAN, 19 CMMs
• Pagasa Islands - one CCG, two PLANs, 32 CMMs
• Parola Island - one PLAN
• Kota Island - one PLAN, seven CMMs
• Likas Island - one research vessel
• Lawak Island - two PLANs, 1 CMM
• Panata Island - one PLAN, two CMMs
• Patag Island - one PLAN
• Escoda Shoal - seven CCGs, six PLANs, 40 CMMs
• Iroquois Reef - 17 CMMs4

The Philippine Navy expressed concern over the series of aggressive actions by China in the WPS this month.

“The Navy is concerned with all these coercive and aggressive actions that raises the risk for a miscalculation,” Navy spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad told reporters.

According to him, the Armed Forces of the Philippines keeps its close coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and  the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to secure the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

On Monday, CCG ships blocked two PCG vessels on a rotation and reprovisioning mission to the BRP Teresa Magbanua in Escoda.

On Sunday, CCG vessels rammed and used a water cannon on the BFAR's BRP Datu Sanday near Escoda.

On August 22, a Philippine aircraft conducting maritime patrol off Subi Reef was met with flares at least three times from the China-occupied Zamora Reef.

On August 19, CCG vessels also had collisions with PCG vessels near Escoda while the latter were on their way to deliver supplies to Patag and Lawak Islands.

On August 8, two People's Liberation Army Air Force aircraft performed "dangerous and provocative actions" against a Philippine Air Force (PAF) aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc.

Tensions continue amid China’s massive claim in the South China Sea (SCS), including the portion the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea.

The SCS is a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Aside from the Philippines, China has overlapping claims in the area with Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis."

China has not recognized the decision. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News