The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it drove out Chinese vessels lurking near the Philippine coast.

Footage shows the PCG Islander helicopter sending a radio warning to China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels 3301 and 3104, seen sailing some 34 miles off Pangasinan province, at 9:30 am on February 2.

The PCG said the ships were found by the Dark Vessel Detection program lurking within the 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines.

In a statement, PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said: 'At around 9:30 am today, the PCG aircraft confirmed the illegal presence of the China Coast Guard vessels, identified by bow numbers 3301 and 3104. Notably, the CCG vessels did not respond to the radio challenge issued by the PCG.

'Currently, two PCG vessels, BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) and BRP Bagacay (MRRV-4410) both 44-meter ships, have been dispatched to Bolinao, Pangasinan, to address the illegal presence of the China Coast Guard and reinforce the Philippine government's position against the normalization of illegal patrols by the People's Republic of China (PRC) within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).'

The Chinese vessels are among several sent near the shores of the Philippines on maritime patrol.

One of them is the massive CCG 5901, the world's largest coast guard vessel at 541 feet and 12,000 tons, which started lurking off the seaside province of Zambales on January 4 afternoon.

Authorities believe the ships were deployed to intimidate Filipino fishermen from entering the Scarborough Shoal, a disputed fishing ground and resource-rich area in the South China Sea.

Expansionist China currently lays claim over almost the entire South China Sea, one of the world's busiest sea lanes. But a United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 deemed its claims groundless.

The Communist rogue state - accused of genocide for its crimes against the Uyghur population - has been steadily increasing its influence in recent years through investment in developing countries.