19 Chinese vessels spotted in Ayungin, Panatag Shoal in February

(West Philippine Sea composite image Inquirer, AFP, Reuters file photos)

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 19 Chinese warships and China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels were monitored in the major maritime features in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) last February.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said these are among the 260 vessels monitored in the WPS for that month

The 19 People’s Liberation Army-Navy ships and CCG vessels were spotted in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, and Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, Padilla said.

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for West Philippine Sea, said nine CCG vessels and two PLA-N warships were spotted in Panatag Shoal, seven CCG vessels and one PLA-N warship in Ayungin Shoal.

Ayungin Shoal and Panatag Shoal are now among the major tension flashpoints in the West Philippine Sea.

The BRP Sierra Madre was run aground in Ayungin Shoal to assert the country’s sovereign rights there.

In 2012, Manila and Beijing had a tense standoff over Panatag Shoal, with the former withdrawing its ships from the shoal that led to the latter having an effective control of its lagoon to date.

A year later, Manila lodged an arbitration case against Beijing after this standoff which led to a historic 2016 arbitral award that effectively rejected the latter’s sweeping claims in the West Philippine Sea through its nine-dash line, now ten-dash-line after the inclusion of another line in the eastern section of Taiwan in 2023.