AFP: Chinese vessels in WPS rise to 42 in past week

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The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said a total of 42 Chinese vessels were monitored in several West Philippine Sea (WPS) features over the past week.

In an update, AFP spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels were monitored in the following WPS features from September 22 to 28:

• Ayungin Shoal – nine CCG vessels
• Bajo de Masinloc – eight PLAN vessels, 14 CCG vessels
• Escoda Shoal – one PLAN vessel, six CCG vessels
• Pag-asa Islands – one PLAN vessel, three CCG vessels

The figure was reportedly higher than the 35 Chinese vessels monitored in the previous report covering September 15 to 21.

Tensions continue in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims much of the waters, a major route for global maritime trade, including areas claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

The Philippine government uses the term West Philippine Sea to refer to the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago that are under Philippine jurisdiction or over which the country asserts maritime rights.

The WPS includes the Luzon Sea and the waters around, within, and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.

In 2016, an arbitral tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruled that China’s claims to historic rights in areas within the so-called nine-dash line, insofar as they exceeded the maritime entitlements allowed under UNCLOS, had no legal basis.

The case was brought by the Philippines and administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

China has rejected the ruling and refused to recognize the tribunal’s decision.— MCG, GMA News