Scarborough Shoal:
China is employing ships and a barrier to tighten control of the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea amid roiling tension with the Philippines over the disputed feature.
- It is a disputed atoll in the South China Sea, claimed by both China and the Philippines as part of their territory.
- It is called Huangyan Island by China and Panatag Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines.
- It was named for the HMS Scarborough, an English ship chartered by the East India Company that struck the atoll in the 18th century.
- It is the largest atoll in the South China Sea.
- Most of the atoll is submerged at high tide, but several rocks, the most prominent of which is called South Rock, remain above water.
- China makes a historical claim to the area, stating that they can trace their ownership of the area back to the Yuan Dynasty of the 1200s.
- The Philippines claim the area on the basis of geography, as it is much closer to the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, which contains the capital, Manila, but lies over 500 miles from China.
- It is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
- There are no structures built on Scarborough Shoal, but the feature is effectively controlled by China, which has maintained a constant coast guard presence at the feature since 2012.
- The surrounding waters have rich fishing grounds, and the seabed is believed to hold substantial mineral resources, including petroleum and natural gas.
