On 12 May the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that around 35 Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) and Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels were monitored in four key West Philippine Sea (WPS) features within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from 4-11 May.
At a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, AFP spokesperson for the WPS Navy, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the Chinese ships, composed of 20 CCG and 15 PLA-N ships. They were spotted off Ayungin Shoal; Bajo de Masinloc; Escoda Shoal and Pag-asa Islands.
“For Ayungin Shoal, we have monitored for the period 4 to 11 May 2026, six CCG vessels and one PLA-N ship. For Bajo de Masinloc, nine CCG and eight PLA-N, Escoda Shoal, two CCG and three PLA-N, and for Pag-asa, three CCG and three PLA-N (vessels),” he added.
“Their illegal presence in our exclusive economic zone has been noted, they have been there. This is the reason why we have shifted to CADC (Comprehensive Archipelagic Defence Concept),” he added.
The CADC is the military’s strategic shift where the AFP is tasked to defend all Philippine territories including the country’s 200 nautical mile EEZ.
Rear Admiral Trinidad said the AFP will keep securing Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights by performing patrols by sea and by air in the WPS. During the “Balikatan” exercises, which took place from 20 April to 8 May in Luzon and parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, Chinese forces from the PLA-N, CCG and even its maritime militia did not conduct any “coercive and aggressive actions,” the spokesperson said.
“Upon checking, what we noted was the presence of PLA-N ships and CCG, and the occasional presence of a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (aircraft). [But] there was no noted synchronised activity that would symbolise an exercise being conducted,” he said.
For its part, the PLA released photographs of the CCG patrol ship Chuanshan (pictured), which was “patrolling on duty in the territorial waters of China’s Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal) has organised comprehensive training on maritime rights safeguarding and law enforcement.”
Sources: Philippines News Agency & PLA
