Philippines Confirms China Removed Scarborough Shoal
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- Philippines' National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea confirmed via aerial and maritime patrols conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Philippine Coast Guard that a 6m x 6m floating platform equipped with an antenna and placed by Chinese maritime forces at Scarborough Shoal had been removed.
- Philippine Coast Guard observed Chinese research vessel Yue Zhan Yu Ke 6 dismantling the platform and loading it onto her stern on Tuesday, though a smaller Chinese research vessel remained in the vicinity as of yesterday.
- Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs protested the platform's "illegal presence" after it was first spotted in satellite imagery on May 25, calling protection of Manila's sovereignty and jurisdiction "a paramount consideration."
- Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) sits roughly 200 km west of Luzon and 874 km from China's Hainan Island, and has been under Chinese control since 2012 following a tense 10-week standoff in which China occupied the feature despite a mutual-withdrawal agreement.
- China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian asserted Beijing has "indisputable sovereignty" over the shoal, characterizing the platform as part of a program of "comprehensive research" possibly linked to the nature reserve China declared at Scarborough last year.
- NTF-WPS said it is "assessing the nature, purpose, and potential implications of the platform's deployment" while reiterating that Bajo de Masinloc "is and will always be an integral part of Philippine territory."
Why it matters: China removed the platform after Manila's formal protest, but Beijing explicitly defended the deployment as legitimate sovereign research tied to last year's declared nature reserve — meaning the underlying sovereignty dispute over the fish-rich atoll 200 km off Luzon remains unresolved, with a smaller Chinese research vessel still present at the site.
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