At least 30 Chinese vessels, including a People’s Liberation Army Navy ship, were spotted around areas in the South China Sea that the Philippines claims as part of its territory, according to its military.
Along with the PLA navy vessel, also sighted were a Chinese coast guard ship and six fishing boats near the Philippines-occupied Thitu Island, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla told reporters on Wednesday.
In Scarborough Shoal, a traditional Filipino fishing ground, the military spotted six Chinese coast guard vessels and eight Chinese militia ships, Padilla said. In Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines maintains a grounded World War-II era ship, there were six Chinese fishing boats and a coast guard vessel, she said.
The Philippine military’s latest statement reflects the government’s intensifying maritime surveillance operations, as tensions between the Manila and Beijing have risen. The Chinese boats were seen on Tuesday, the same day President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said that the threat to his nation from China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea is growing and that the Philippines “must do more to defend our territory.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to Manila this week, criticised China’s actions in the contested waters as he reaffirmed the US security commitment to the Philippines. — Bloomberg
