China has almost tripled the number of its military vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), with nine People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships spotted in the area from only three in the past few days, according to the Philippine Navy. Three of the PLAN vessels were seen in the vicinity of Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, two in the area of Pagasa Island and one each around Ayungin Shoal, Likas Island, Patag Island and the Del Pilar (Iroquois) Reef. The number of maritime militia vessels, meanwhile, went down from 106 during the period of July 30 to Aug. 5 to only 68 between Aug. 6 and 12.

Punongbayan, M., Pareno, R., & Lee-Brago, P. (2024, August 14). China nearly triples number of ships in WPS. The Philippine Star, pp. 1, 3.