October 10, 2023

The China Coast Guard (CCG) expelled a gunboat of the Philippine Navy that intruded into waters off China's Huangyan Dao (also known as Huangyan Island) in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

The event, together with a recent military exercise featuring the Philippines and the US, marks a possible escalation of the continued tensions between China and the Philippines that have been rumbling on since August, as China could now send the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy reciprocally to counter if more Philippine warships trespass in the area, analysts said.

Disregarding repeated dissuasions and warnings from the Chinese side, a Philippine Navy gunboat insisted on intruding into the waters adjacent to China's Huangyan Island on Tuesday, Gan Yu, a spokesperson at the CCG, said in a press release on the day.

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