A Philippine military plane patrolling the West Philippine Sea this week spotted scores of Chinese vessels at several reefs within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and received several radio messages telling it to leave the areas claimed by China. In response, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) on Wednesday demanded that China “immediately withdraw these vessels flying its flag,” noting that they were Chinese maritime militia in waters over which the Philippines had sovereign rights. The task force repeated the same demand contained in a formal diplomatic protest filed by Manila on March 21 against the presence of more than 200 Chinese vessels at Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef, within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer EEZ.

Cabalza, D., Aning, J., Miranda, R., & Santos, T. G. (2021, April 1). Task force answers China radio message: Withdraw your militia. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A2.