Satellite photographs have captured a significant Chinese deployment at the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, with vessels and a floating barrier positioned to restrict access to the disputed fishing ground, Reuters reported.
Images taken on April 10 and 11 show four fishing boats anchored near the shoal’s entrance, while a separate photograph from April 11 reveals a floating barrier stretching across it. Satellite image provider Vantor, formerly Maxar Technologies, also identified what it described as a probable Chinese naval or coast guard patrol vessel positioned just outside the entrance on April 10.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela confirmed to Reuters that China had installed a 352-meter (1,150-foot) barrier at the entrance on those dates. He said six Chinese maritime militia vessels were observed inside the shoal and three others outside.
“Six Chinese maritime militia vessels were observed within the shoal, while three others were spotted outside, seemingly obstructing the entrance to BDM,” he said, using the Philippine name Bajo de Masinloc for the shoal. China refers to it as Huangyan Island.
Philippine Navy spokesperson Roy Trinidad separately said ten Chinese coast guard vessels were sighted at the shoal between April 5 and April 12.
Tarriela noted the barrier appeared to have since been removed, but said Philippine Navy patrols at the area have continued. He also cited a pattern of behavior from the Chinese side.
“According to our assessment in the past, they consistently exhibit suspicion whenever they monitor a group of Filipino fishing boats,” he said.
China’s defense ministry did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the deployment.
The shoal sits entirely within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, though Beijing also claims it as sovereign Chinese territory. Despite competing assertions, no sovereignty determination has ever been established — and the feature has remained under effective Chinese control since Beijing seized it following a 2012 standoff with Manila.
The latest developments come against a backdrop of intensifying military alignment between the Philippines and the United States. Joint drills involving thousands of troops are set to commence across the Philippine archipelago this month, including in Zambales province, whose coastline lies roughly 120 nautical miles from the shoal. In January, the two treaty allies conducted their 11th combined naval exercise at the area.
Diplomats, according to Reuters, are watching the situation closely amid concerns that China may be testing boundaries at a moment when Washington is focused on the Iran conflict and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found that China’s blockade of the shoal violated international law, as the waters constitute a traditional fishing ground for multiple nations including the Philippines, China, and Vietnam — though the tribunal’s mandate did not extend to resolving sovereignty itself.
Last year, China’s designation of Scarborough Shoal as a national nature reserve drew alarm from Philippine security officials, who characterized the move as a “clear pretext for occupation.”
