China nearly doubled the number of military and coast guard ships it sent to a key flashpoint in the South China Sea last month, according to Manila's military.It comes as a series of increasingly tense encounters raises the risk of confrontation with a U.S.treaty ally located in the disputed waters.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it tracked 101 different Chinese navy and coast guard vessels around four disputed areas over the course of September, up from 56 in August and 48 in July.The sharp increase comes as Chinese and Philippine forces have faced off both at sea and in the air, including an encounter over the weekend in which Manila accused a Chinese fighter jet of repeatedly maneuvering dangerously close to an unarmed Philippine patrol plane.China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including waters that fall within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, and uses coast guard ships, naval vessels and aircraft to assert those claims.Manila has continued patrolling the waters and resupplying Philippine positions, bringing forces from the two countries into repeated close contact.A Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel, labeled DA-BFAR MMOV 3015, navigates in proximity to another ship during a maritime encounter.
(Chinese Coast Guard)US, CHINA STRIKE DEAL TO LOWER TARIFFS ON $30B IN GOODS AFTER TRUMP-XI WASHINGTON SUMMITThe confrontations carry particular stakes for Washington: the Philippines is a U.S.treaty ally, and the U.S.
has repeatedly said its Mutual Defense Treaty with Manila applies to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels and aircraft — including in the South China Sea.The latest Philippine count showed the largest number of Chinese vessels around Scarborough Shoal, where 39 different Chinese coast guard and People's Liberation Army Navy ships were observed during September.Another 28 were tracked around Thitu Island, known in the Philippines as Pag-asa; 23 around Second Thomas S...