Chinese ships crowd Ayungin Shoal anew 2 months after Philippines-China truce

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Chinese ships swarming the West Philippine Sea has climbed to a record-high for the third time this year — a surge partly driven by the four-fold increase in the Chinese vessels near Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal).

From September 17 to 23, the Philippine Navy spotted a record 251 Chinese vessels across eight features of the West Philippine Sea, marking a 46% increase from the previous week. This figure surpasses the Navy's earlier high of 207 vessels recorded from September 3 to 9. 

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the increase can be attributed to the expected surge of Chinese vessels after a storm passes through an area, among other factors.

"This time, this is the biggest increase we've seen," Trinidad said in a press briefing on Tuesday, September 24.

Nearly a third of the vessels (82) are concentrated at Sabina (Escoda) Shoal — the feature that has been the epicenter of China's "illegal" show of force in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone since mid-August. 

Monitoring by the Navy shows Chinese warships are increasingly crowding Sabina Shoal, with the number of People's Liberation Army vessels climbing from four to 11.

After weeks of being surrounded by less than 50 Chinese vessels, Ayungin Shoal saw the number of Chinese ships around it increase from 17 last week to 72, with most being Chinese maritime militia vessels.

This is the highest number of Chinese vessels spotted at the contested feature since the Manila and Beijing agreed to de-escalate tensions there two months ago. The arrangement was finalized during bilateral talks in Manila on July 2

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Trinidad said no activity has been reported in Ayungin Shoal so far. 

He also maintained that China's naval presence near the Philippines remains within their "force projection capability."
 
"If we notice, the total number of maritime militia vessels in the entire South China Sea could be approximately 350 to 400. But these are disbursed all over the South China. We have the vietnam side, the Malaysia side," Trinidad