By Liz Lagniton | 2026-01-21

The Philippines and China have escalated a public war of words over tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), with Manila blaming Beijing's actions at sea for the latest frictions. China accuses Philippine officials of distorting maritime law and provoking trouble.

The WPS is the part of the South China Sea within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

On January 12, the Philippines' National Maritime Council attributed the tensions in the WPS to "China's persistent illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive ... activities" within Philippine maritime zones.

Chinese patrols in contested waters are "normal" but Manila calls them illegal, China's embassy said January 13. Manila misleads public opinion by deploying government vessels or allowing fishermen to operate in Chinese territorial waters, it said.

Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela rejected Beijing's allegations of deception by Manila. "These are not 'smears' or 'slanders.' These are factual accounts backed by video evidence, photographs, official Philippine Coast Guard reports, and third-party observations," he said.

Refuting the '9-dash line'

China draws a "nine-dash line" on maps to claim "historic rights" over about 80% to 90% of the South China Sea, covering key shipping lanes and waters claimed by other states.

However, Philippine authorities and lawmakers have framed the dispute as a precise legal issue under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Chinese operations within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile EEZ violate the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated the nine-dash line, they say.

Leila de Lima, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, rejected China's assertion of "overlapping" maritime zones. Hainan Island, China, is "around 900 kilometers away from the Philippines at their nearest points," she pointed out, according to a January 15 Philippine Star report.

Even if one calculates a maximum 300km EEZ for both countries, there remains a "healthy 300-kilometer buffer zone between them," meaning no legal overlap exists under UNCLOS, she said.

More Chinese ships, 1st incident of 2026 recorded

Meanwhile, the Philippine navy is reporting elevated Chinese ship presence.

At a recent briefing, Philippine naval spokesperson Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said authorities detected 41 Chinese vessels across four maritime features in the WPS during the first week of January.

The vessels, including those from the Chinese navy, the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the maritime militia, were spotted around Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal, Sabina Shoal and Thitu Island, said Trinidad.

The disclosure came as authorities recorded the first Chinese harassment of the year in the WPS. It involved a Philippine fishing boat that encountered a Chinese navy vessel and a CCG ship near Scarborough Shoal on January 12.

While the boat was heading to fishing grounds west of the shoal, Chinese vessels blocked it. At one point, the CCG ship closed to within about 30 meters. The Philippine captain changed course to the southeast to evade them but was "closely trailed by the [CCG] ship," said Tarriela.

"No amount of drama and propaganda can conceal the true nature of a foreign aggressor in our own seas," Akbayan Party President Rafaela David said in a statement. China is "the single greatest threat to the lives and livelihoods of our fisherfolk," she said.