The Philippines said Saturday that it had detected 44 Chinese ships, including a military naval vessel and a coast guard vessel, in its territorial waters, Bloomberg News reported.
And the Coast Guard said - in a statement - that it had detected 42 "suspected" ships, including Chinese naval vessels, anchored 12 nautical miles from Pag-Asa Island, in the south of the country.
"The continued unauthorized presence (of ships) is clearly inconsistent with the right of innocent passage and a flagrant violation of Philippine territorial sovereignty," he said, citing the 1982 United Nations Convention on Maritime Law.
It is noteworthy that Pag-Asa is the largest island in the Kalayan Islands group located in the South China Sea, where the Philippines, China and other countries claim their rights in the region.
This year, the Philippines lodged at least 10 diplomatic protests against China over alleged "violations" in the South China Sea, highlighting renewed tensions between the two countries over the disputed waters.