China should pull out its over 240 ships lingering in the West Philippine Sea and respect the country’s sovereignty, a government task force in charge of looking after the area said Tuesday night. According to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), the swarming of the Chinese vessels was “prejudicial to the peace and security” in the region. “The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) denounces the continuous swarming in the WPS by Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) and Maritime Militia which are claimed by Chinese authorities to be ordinary fishing vessels,” it said in a statement.

Kabiling, G., Sadongdong, M. A., & Mabasa, R. C. (2021, April 15). 240 Chinese ships swarm in West PH Sea. Manila Bulletin, pp. 1, 5.