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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
July 9, 2025 | 1:31pm
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela on February 2, 2025.
Photos courtesy of PCG | via Mark Villeza
MANILA, Philippines — China's maritime presence in the West Philippine Sea reached its highest numbers in six months in June, according to the Philippine Navy, which believes the rise may be due to the weather or deployment cycles rather than a sustained escalation.
Navy spokesperson for West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said 49 Chinese Navy and Coast Guard ships were seen swarming the waters near three Philippine features last month — up from 41 vessels in May.
"These 49 ships were not there all the time, but they were in and out of the different features," Trinidad told reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday, July 8.
The Chinese vessels were seen across three features in the West Philippine Sea. At least nine CCG vessels and 14 People's Liberation Army Navy vessels were seen near Bajo de Masinloc. Meanwhile, 12 CCG vessels and two warships were spotted near Ayungin Shoal. Near Pag-asa Island, there were nine CCG vessels and three PLA Navy ships.
The 49 vessels spotted in June are the highest monthly tally recorded for 2025 so far, based on the Navy's monitoring data shared Tuesday. In comparison, 41 Chinese vessels were recorded near the same three features in May, 31 in April, 35 in March, nine in February and 11 in January.
Trinidad believes the rise in the number of Chinese vessels spotted could be caused by weather conditions, deployment cycles or maintenance and repair, saying the Navy does not have "direct reference on the tactical implications" of the increase.
Varying behavior. Despite the uptick in June, Trinidad does not view Chinese aggression at sea as steadily rising. Instead, he sees it as fluctuating over time.
"There would be times that they are aggressive, there are times that they are aggressive or coercive, there are times that they are not," the Navy spokesperson said. "So, it is up and down. It fluctuates."
The more noticeable escalation has been in China's information warfare rather than its vessels' actions at sea, Trinidad said.
"What I could say is that the escalation is more on the narratives. The information warfare being waged against us, the false narratives, the malign influence being given out that has increased," Trinidad said.
Trinidad pointed to particularly aggressive Chinese behavior in 2023 during Philippine resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal and in 2024 around Bajo de Masinloc.
RELATED: Philippines says Chinese coast guard boarded navy vessels in South China Sea
China typically also moderates its behavior during multilateral maritime activities involving foreign navies but resumes aggressive actions afterward, the Navy spokesperson added.
Political sanctions. Beijing recently sanctioned former Sen. Francis Tolentino over “egregious conduct on China-related issues” and barred him from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The former senator is the main author of two laws that sought to mark out the Philippines' maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea — the part of the South China Sea that overlaps with its exclusive economic zone.
