China’s military drills do not alter Philippines’ legal claim to Scarborough Reef

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/57035165

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval and airborne exercises around the contested Scarborough Reef do not change the Philippines’ legal claim to the South China Sea location, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said in August 2026.

“Military activities or demonstrations do not alter the legal status of maritime features or the Philippines’ maritime entitlements under international law,” an AFP spokesman told the Philippines News Agency. The declaration came two days after the PLA surged amphibious forces and aircraft bombers for drills near the reef, 120 nautical miles from the Philippines.

China seized Scarborough Reef in 2012 even though it is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China has escalated tensions in the region since then with activities including harassing Philippine patrol boats and fishing vessels, especially in recent years. China also announced in 2025 that it established a “national nature preserve” on 8,700 acres of the contested shoal, a move highly criticized partly because Beijing had caused environmental damage for years, including irreparable harm to 19 square kilometers of coral reef in the South China Sea. China also sent research vessels and installed floating markers near the reef in June, raising concerns in Manila that Beijing planned to build permanent structures.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a vital global trade route with rich undersea deposits of gas and oil, despite overlapping claims from the Philippines and other nations.

...

Web Archive link