Phl Navy tracks 48 Chinese vessels in West Philippine Sea
(FILES) Philippine Coast Guard crew members aboard the BRP Cabra monitor a Chinese vessel anchored at Sabina Shoal, a West Philippine Sea outcrop located about 135 kilometers west of Palawan. China’s ‘aggressive’ actions in the WPS have earned condemnation from the Philippines and such countries as the United States, Japan, and Australia.
Handout/Philippine Coastguard/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The Philippine Navy is monitoring 48 Chinese vessels, including warships, spotted in the West Philippine Sea last week.
Navy data showed 21 vessels in Bajo de Masinloc, of which 10 were from the People’s Liberation Army Navy and 11 from the Chinese Coast Guard. Another 12 Chinese Coast Guard vessels were monitored in Ayungin Shoal.
In Escoda Shoal, authorities recorded eight vessels, including five from the Chinese Coast Guard and three from the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Meanwhile, seven Chinese ships—five from the Coast Guard and two from the Navy—were monitored near Pag-asa Island.
The figures cover monitoring data from last week until 2 February 2026.
Brewing tensions
China continues to assert sweeping claims over nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has continued to criticize Philippine authorities, particularly Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard, through statements posted on its official Facebook page.
China has also refused to recognize the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea and ruled that these have “no legal basis.”