China is accused of stretching another floating barrier across the mouth of Scarborough Shoal’s expansive lagoon, eliciting protests from Philippine officials and fishermen who ply the bountiful waters.
The shoal is within the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but Beijing claims it and most of the resource-rich South China Sea despite an international tribunal’s 2016 ruling that there is no legal justification for China’s assertions. China’s declaration in September 2025 that much of the shoal will be a purported nature reserve was denounced as an illegal attempt to assert control over the triangular, largely submerged atoll.
Scarborough Shoal lies about 220 kilometers west of the Philippines’ Zambales province in what Filipinos call the West Philippine Sea. China gained control of the shoal in 2012 after a standoff with Philippine forces and repeatedly has placed barriers across the 150-square-kilometer lagoon’s entrance:
- Philippine Coast Guard divers in September 2023 cut through ropes reportedly installed by China to secure a barricade. “The barrier posed a hazard to navigation, a clear violation of international law,” Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela stated after the incident. “It also hinders the conduct of fishing and livelihood activities of Filipino fisherfolk.”
- In February 2024, satellite images showed a floating barrier at the lagoon’s mouth. China removed the barrier shortly after the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources brought fuel and supplies to Filipino fishermen in the area, a Philippine official said.
A Philippine Navy vessel on routine patrol spotted the latest floating barrier. “Recent satellite imagery shows what appears to be a barrier placed by China at the mouth of a contested fishing ground in the South China Sea,” Newsweek magazine reported in October 2025.
Beijing’s initial claim to Scarborough Shoal helped prompt the Philippines’ 2013 case that resulted in the international tribunal’s decision. Tensions between China, which ignores the ruling, and the Philippines have increased in recent years near the shoal and elsewhere in the South China Sea. China Coast Guard ships have rammed, blocked, and directed water cannons and lasers at Philippine fishing vessels and supply boats, drawing widespread condemnation. There have been 47 such incidents in 2025 as of mid-October and 245 since 2022, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro reported.
Manila’s transparency strategy has exposed China’s maritime aggression, with Philippine authorities routinely distributing videos and photographs of the incidents and inviting media representatives aboard patrol vessels.
“The data underscores that Filipinos recognize the critical role of transparency in defending our national interests and upholding international law,” stated Jeffrey Ordaniel, president and CEO of the We Protect our Seas Foundation, a Manila-based nonprofit. “Transparency is not a mere communication strategy — it is a prerequisite for effectively countering Beijing’s unlawful actions in the South China Sea.”
