Manila flags near-doubling of China presence in region

China’s military and coast guard presence in South China Sea waters claimed by the Philippines nearly doubled last month, Manila said yesterday.

Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and confrontations between Philippine and Chinese ships have in some cases led to collisions resulting in injuries and damage.

Manila last month monitored 101 Chinese navy and coast guard ships around Philippine-garrisoned Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島), Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙), Sabina Shoal (Sianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗吵) and Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島).

The Philippine-occupied Thitu Island (Jhongye Island) in the contested Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands) in the South China Sea is pictured on March 9, 2023.

Photo: Reuters

That was nearly double the previous month’s total of 56 vessels, a military tally showed.

The Chinese buildup aims to “break our people’s resolve to keep what is ours,” Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said.

“It’s called mission kill. It seeks to destroy your capability to continue the mission,” he added.

Manila last week accused China’s military and coast guard of harassing government aircraft and boats in two areas of the South China Sea that lie within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

One incident included alleged interference by a Chinese fighter jet with a Philippine Cessna 208 turboprop that was conducting a “routine military patrol” near Scarborough Shoal on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a China Coast Guard ship “shadowed and blocked” Philippine boats trying to approach a foreign fishing vessel it accused of using dynamite to catch fish, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

Beijing this week warned Manila against “provocative acts” in the disputed waters, saying the Philippine Cessna near Scarborough was violating its airspace.