Two Chinese vessels have been spotted again in the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal off northern Philippines, days after it was reported that the ships have left the area, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

“Yesterday [Sunday], we received a report from the Philippine Navy confirming that Chinese ships are back in Bajo de Masinloc,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said, referring to the shoal’s Philippine name.

Chinese vessels, he added, have never actually left the area as they have been sighted to have been coming in and out of the shoal, where the Philippines and China figured in a tense dangerous standoff last year.