A floating structure in a contested shoal in the South China Sea has been removed, the Philippines said, after Manila lodged a diplomatic protest over what it called an “illegal” move by Beijing.
Patrols conducted by Philippine authorities yesterday morning confirmed the removal of the floating platform previously monitored within the lagoon of the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), a Philippine task force said in a statement.
Taiwan also lays claim to the Scarborough Shoal.
Photo: AFP
“The Philippines has indivisible, incontrovertible and longstanding sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc,” Manila said, referring to the Scarborough Shoal. “Only the Philippines has the right to place or construct structures and conduct activities, including marine scientific research, in Bajo de Masinloc and its territorial sea.”
China said the floating structure was a temporary scientific research facility established by its South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“The relevant scientific research mission has now been successfully completed,” the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s administration has been pushing back against China’s expansive claims in the resource-rich waterway, often leading to clashes between ships of the two nations in disputed waters.
China took effective control of Scarborough Shoal after a standoff with the Philippines in 2012 and has reclaimed reefs in contested waters to assert its sweeping claims over the South China Sea.
Last week, China imposed sanctions on Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, accusing him of making remarks that damaged bilateral ties and raising tensions in a relationship already strained by territorial disputes.
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