New Structure Appears on Scarborough Shoal; Chinese Academy of Sciences Says It Built a Floating Platform

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 11) The Philippines has accused China of installing a new structure on the disputed Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China). The South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated yesterday that it had built a floating sampling and experimental platform in the area to "investigate the development, evolution, and ecological resilience of Huangyan Island."

According to a Reuters report, the Philippines held a press conference yesterday, urging Beijing to remove the floating structure and emphasizing that it will never allow the atoll to be developed into an artificial island. Manila had already lodged a diplomatic protest with China on the 10th.

Philippine Navy spokesperson Roy Vincent Trinidad said, "From a defense and security perspective, we are doing everything to fulfill our mandate, which includes preventing Scarborough Shoal from being developed into another artificial island."

Philippine security officials released photos of the floating structure, showing a square platform with several people on it and an antenna erected in the center.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, responding to media questions at a regular press conference on the 9th, stated that China has "indisputable sovereignty" over Huangyan Island and its adjacent waters. He said that any activities China carries out on Huangyan Island, including scientific research, are "the legitimate rights of a sovereign state." He urged the Philippines to stop maritime infringement, provocations, and inflammatory propaganda.

The South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, posted on its WeChat public account on the 10th, stating that to "deepen the understanding of the development and evolution patterns and trends of the Huangyan Island reef, the maintenance mechanism of coral reef biodiversity, and its ecological connectivity with the reefs in the Xisha and Nansha Islands," it has been leading a "Comprehensive Scientific Investigation of the Development, Evolution, and Ecological Resilience of Huangyan Island" since May 20, 2026.

The institute stated that as of now, the Chinese scientific team has conducted a comprehensive survey covering the entire Scarborough Shoal atoll and has "built a floating in-situ sampling and experimental platform in the waters of Huangyan Island" for core sampling, time-series observation of environmental elements, and in-situ experiments.

In September 2025, China announced the establishment of a "national-level nature reserve" on Scarborough Shoal, sparking controversy over China's construction of permanent facilities on the coral reef shoal. (Editor: Yang Shengru / Qiu Guoqiang) 1150611