US Ally Spots 50 Chinese Ships in Disputed South China Sea Waters

The game of chicken between China and U.S. defense treaty ally the Philippines continues in the South China Sea, with Manila saying there are currently about 50 Chinese ships in contested waters.

The total includes more than a dozen China-flagged ships at Scarborough Shoal, where China claimed it expelled a patrolling Philippines fisheries bureau last week, despite ship-tracking data showing the ship to still be in the area shortly afterward.

Manila said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ship was at the atoll to support local fishermen, whom the Chinese coast guard had recently been filmed ejecting from their traditional fishing ground. China seized de facto control over Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and claims the area, like much of the South China Sea, as its territory.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines with a written request for comment.

Commodore Vincent Trinidad, spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea command of the country's navy, told Newsweek in a phone call on Wednesday that there about 50 Chinese vessels have been counted in the area, adding that the number has been fairly consistent in recent weeks.

The West Philippine Sea is Manila's term for areas of the South China Sea lying within the Philippines' internationally recognized exclusive economic zone.

Trinidad said ships included grey hulls of China's People's Liberation Army Navy, white-hulled Chinese coast guard ships, and "fishing vessels." He confirmed some of the fishing vessels were part of China's so-called maritime militia fleet, which China deploys in tandem with its coast guard to assert its claims.

The spokesperson said a total of 50 ships was not cause for alarm, pointing out that maritime militia frequently floods into disputed waters in the dozens and hundreds.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Trinidad said there were four China Coast Guard ships and 10 to 17 Chinese fishing vessels at Scarborough Shoal.

In the nearby Spratly Islands archipelago, 16 Chinese fishing boats and a navy warship were spotted off Thitu Island, the site of a new coast guard outpost.

Two Chinese coast guard vessels and four fishing boats were seen near another South China Sea hotspot, Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines houses a contingent of marines on a rusting 80-year-old warship deliberately grounded in 1999 to stake Manila's claim.

Meanwhile, nine additional Chinese fishing boats were seen in waters off Lankiam Cay and Northeast Cay, the spokesperson said.

At a separate press conference on Tuesday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said that at least three Chinese warships were operating nearby during the fisheries bureau's recent patrol, though they maintained a distance of at least 20 nautical miles (23 miles) from Scarborough Shoal.

However, for the first time, what appeared to be a Chinese military helicopter was sighted flying over the contentious atoll, Tarriela said.

Manila and Washington share a 7-decade-old Mutual Defense Treaty. President Joe Biden and other American officials have affirmed that the pact extends to Philippine assets anywhere, including the South China Sea.