Manila Holds Course as G7 Cites Taiwan Strait
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Tuesday it monitored 29 Chinese vessels at West Philippine Sea features between November 3 and 8, including navy and coast guard ships, GMA News reported. Nine coast guard vessels and one navy ship were at Ayungin Shoal, with five coast guard and three navy vessels at Bajo de Masinloc.
Spokesperson Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad also answered Vice President Sara Duterte’s call to avoid confrontation with Beijing, Inquirer.net reported. He said defending Philippine rights is not “picking a fight,” and that resupply missions, patrols and maritime domain awareness would continue.
Separately, G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris on Monday reaffirmed “strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion,” including across the Taiwan Strait, according to a readout from Japan’s Foreign Ministry cited by The Japan Times.
The reports describe counts and positions, not a clash.