PHL navy says 30 Chinese ships monitored in South China Sea

THIRTY CHINESE navy and coast guard ships were monitored at contested features in the South China Sea on Monday, a Philippine Navy spokesman said on Tuesday, as China remains increasingly coercive in the disputed waterway.

China sent the biggest number of ships to Scarborough Shoal, with four navy ships and eight coast guard vessels, said Philippine Rear Admiral Roy Vincent T. Trinidad, navy spokesman for the South China Sea.

A Chinese navy ship was monitored alongside six coast guard vessels at Second Thomas Shoal, while five China Coast Guard ships were also spotted around Thitu Island, he added. Both features are occupied by the Philippines.

He said there was also a People’s Liberation Army-Navy warship and five Chinese coast guard vessels spotted at Sabina Shoal.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

Mr. Trinidad did not share any more details but noted he expects the number of ships to go down as Tropical Depression Verbena threatens the country.

“We expect these numbers will go down when the typhoon hits the West Philippine Sea,” Mr. Trinidad told reporters in a media briefing.

Tropical Depression Verbena is forecast to intensify into a tropical storm in the next six to 12 hours, the Philippines’ weather bureau said in a 5 p.m. bulletin on Tuesday. It was last seen east of the major island of Palawan and is expected to pass through the South China Sea.

The increase in the presence of Chinese ships on Monday followed the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) report that it shadowed two Chinese coast guard vessels near Scarborough Shoal on Sunday.

PCG’s 44-meter patrol ship BRP Cabra shadowed and repeatedly issued radio challenges to 134-meter and 111-meter Chinese patrol vessels, citing violations against the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the 2016 arbitral ruling by a United Nations-backed court that PCG said “invalidated China’s excessive maritime claims in the South China Sea.”

Scarborough is a vast fishing lagoon that lies within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and was seized by China in 2012 following a standoff with Philippine forces.

China claims nearly all of the strategic waterway via a U-shaped, 1940s nine-dash line map that overlaps with the exclusive waters of the Philippines and neighbors like Vietnam and Malaysia, irking Manila as Beijing continues to claim sovereignty by deploying an armada of coast guard and navy ships.

China’s recent action also comes as the Philippine Navy concluded its biggest naval drills this year that featured some of Manila’s modern warships and jets.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Philippine Navy said that around 1,000 troops took part in the week-long exercise joined by 12 warships and two FA-50 light combat jets. It did not disclose the location of the drills, though opening and closing ceremonies were held at a naval base facing the contested South China Sea.

Philippine Rear Admiral Joe Anthony C. Orbe said in the statement that Exercise Pagbubuklod — Filipino for unity — should help the navy identify operational gaps and address “any shortcomings,” adding the drills should not be seen merely as compliance.

The drills focused on anti‑surface, anti‑subsurface, anti‑air and electronic warfare exercises aimed at sharpening Manila’s naval capabilities, the navy said.

“The exercise further emphasized deliberate planning, enhanced joint-force interoperability and seamless coordination among fleet units, as well as with other Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine Navy components,” it said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio