Satellite images have revealed a “swarm” of nearly 100 Chinese vessels continuing to occupy waters near a Philippine-held island in the contested South China Sea.

Thitu Island, called Pag-Asa in the Philippines and Zhongye Island in China, is the second-largest naturally occurring feature in the Spratly Islands and the only one with a permanent civilian population. It and a number of other South China Sea features are at the center of territorial tensions between Beijing and the U.S. defense treaty ally.

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