Chinese structures and military equipment have been observed on Subi Reef, which lies within the Philippines’ continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea near Pag-asa Island, Palawan.
A Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) plane identified these developments while monitoring Chinese activities in Sandy Cay, according to a report on Unang Balita by Raffy Tima.
The artificial island, built by China in 2013, now hosts large structures, a runway, radar domes, antennas, vehicles, and hangars. Additionally, a deepwater shelter port was seen, providing refuge for Chinese ships during rough seas. Chinese maritime militia vessels were also spotted in the vicinity.
In July, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines submitted a formal request to the United Nations to affirm the country’s entitlement to an extended continental shelf (ECS) in the West Palawan Region. This action counters China’s expansive claims over the South China Sea.
On June 14, the Philippine Mission to the UN in New York submitted information to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to assert the country’s ECS rights in accordance with Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The CLCS oversees the implementation of UNCLOS, establishing the outer limits of continental shelves beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines.