South China Sea: 4 Chinese Navy ships spotted by Philippines may pave way for big clash

Military public affairs chief Colonel Xerxes Trinidad said in a statement that the four ships, including two People’s Liberation Army Navy destroyers, a frigate and a replenishment oiler, were spotted on Wednesday afternoon in the Balabac Strait off Palawan island.

“As part of standard operating procedures, these vessels were challenged and they responded accordingly,” Trinidad said.

The area where the ships appeared was commonly used by international vessels passing through “our waters”, he added.

The incident led to several Filipino personnel suffering injuries, including a sailor who lost a finger.

On June 14, the Philippine military observed a Chinese Navy amphibious assault ship in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for an area of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone.

The 36,000-ton ship is capable of carrying nearly 1,000 marines, attack helicopters, battle tanks and other military equipment.

A tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea through its so-called “nine-dash-line” had no legal basis and recognised Manila’s sovereign rights in the waterway. China, however, has refused to accept the verdict.

Security analyst Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, told This Week in Asia that the separate incidents involving the warships and the amphibious assault ship showed China was planning for larger-scale confrontations in the West Philippine Sea.

In particular, the amphibious platform of the assault ship could be used for coordinated attacks by the Chinese Navy, coastguard and maritime militias to escalate the maritime dispute, he said.

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Chinese and Philippine ships clash in first incident under