(UPDATE) IT happened again. China deployed its coast guard and militia vessels to the West Philippine Sea where the country's own ships were on a resupply mission in one of its islands considered as such because it lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The incident on Friday, according to United States-based national security expert Ray Powell, showed at least four China Coast Guard (CCG) and 32 militia vessels being sent out from Mischief Reef, another island within the Philippines' EEZ, but where the Chinese government had stationed its own vessels since May of this year.