copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-08-18): The implications of the ruling are less clear for Scarborough Shoal, an isolated feature several hundred miles northeast of the Spratly Islands that is much closer to Manila. It was declared a rock above water at high-tide and therefore entitled to a territorial sea. Based on the tribunal’s ruling, the shoal is wholly within the Philippines EEZ. While it is unoccupied, it has been under de facto Chinese control since 2012, a highly unusual situation. [...] China can no longer justify such claims with reference to UNCLOS. This affirmation of Southeast Asian countries’ land-based maritime resource rights in the South China Sea reflects the geographical fact that their coastlines are much closer to the disputed area than China’s. Removing the Spratlys from the jurisdictional picture beyond a handful of enclaved territorial seas potentially eases the path towards a cooperative high-seas resource-sharing solution in the future. Getting there, however, will still be very difficult. [...] Nonetheless, the Philippines is currently enjoying calm weather at the eye of the South China Sea storm. While China has directed invective at supporters of the tribunal ruling, including Australia, the new Philippine government of Rodrigo Duterte has been spared the worst. Thus far Manila has held its post-tribunal-ruling cards closely, avoiding the twin pitfalls of hubris or submission to China. One can even imagine the basis for a bilateral grand bargain with Beijing, including a swap of Scarborough Shoal for, say, Second Thomas Shoal. But Philippine policy under Duterte remains unpredictable, with the potential to undercut the effect of the tribunal’s ruling.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-28): China’s PLA launches Scarborough Shoal drills as US, Philippine forces train together [...] The Southern Theatre of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is responsible for military operations in the South China Sea, said that it had organised routine exercises and training activities around Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal. [...] "Some external countries are meddling in the South China Sea and creating regional instability … The theatre forces remain highly vigilant, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and maritime rights and interests," the post said, without explicitly referring to the Philippines or other regional US allies.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-03-09): The Philippine claim to Bajo de Masinloc, otherwise referred to as Scarborough Shoal, finds solid basis in international law. The territorial claim of the Philippines over Bajo de Masinloc is strong relative to the claim of China as well as with respect to the principles on the acquisition of territory in international law, in particular, on the basis of effective occupation. The sovereign rights and jurisdiction asserted by the Philippines over the maritime entitlements of the features in Bajo de Masinloc are founded on principles of international law and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which both the Philippines and China have signed and ratified. This paper aims to examine the Philippine claim over Bajo de Masinloc particularly focusing on the 2012 standoff between the Philippines and China and the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China over the West Philippine Sea. [...] This paper adopts the Philippine name of Scarborough Shoal, which is Bajo de Masinloc. This paper treats China and Taiwan as one claimant and assumes that their positions over the Bajo de Masinloc are identical. [...] Declares that Scarborough Shoal, Johnson Reef, Cuarteron Reef ad Fiery Cross Reef are submerged features that are below sea level at high tide, except that each has small protrusions that remain above water at high tide, which are "rocks" under Article 121(3) of the Convention and which therefore generate entitlements only to a Territorial Sea no broader than 12 M; and that China has unlawfully claimed entitlements beyond 12 M from these features;
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-07-15): A day after the United States branded China’s expansive maritime claims across most of the South China Sea as "completely unlawful," it renewed a warning that any action on Beijing’s part to physically occupy or reclaim Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) will be met with "lasting and severe consequences." [...] "Any move by the PRC [Peoples’ Republic of China] to physically occupy, reclaim, or militarize Scarborough Shoal would be a dangerous move on the part of the PRC and will have lasting and severe consequences for the PRC’s relationship with the Unites States as well as the entire region," Stillwell said at the Center of Strategic and International Studies’ 10th South China Sea forum on Tuesday. [...] Why this matters: Scarborough Shoal – Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines – is a vital spawning ground for fish that lies approximately approximately 120 nautical miles from the coast of Masinloc, Zambales.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-24): The Scarborough Shoal standoff is a dispute between the Philippines and the People's Republic of China over the Scarborough Shoal. Tensions began on April 8, 2012, after the attempted apprehension by the Philippine Navy of eight mainland Chinese fishing vessels near the shoal.[1] [...] Hong Kong protests [edit]Hong Kong activists organized a protest on May 11, to reiterate China's claim over the Scarborough shoal near the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong. The protesters sent an open letter to the authorities claiming that the Scarborough shoal has been a Chinese territory since 1279 during the Yuan Dynasty. They also accuse the Philippines of inciting anti-China demonstrations among Filipinos and disrupting Chinese fishermen in the shoal.[16]
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-06-22): The dispute between China and the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal consists of two legal parts, each affecting a distinct geographical area. [...] China claims that in 1935, China’s Map Verification Committee declared sovereignty over 132 islands, reef and shoals in the South China Sea, when Scarborough Shoal was listed as a part of what China today calls Zhongsha Islands. Chinese authors argue that, since China considers Scarborough Shoal to be a part of Zhongsha, when China declared sovereignty over Zhongsha in 1951 this declaration implicitly included Scarborough Shoal. [...] On Chinese maps, the label "Zhongsha" only appears over Macclesfield Bank, not Scarborough Shoal. Internationally Scarborough Shoal is regarded as being separate from Macclesfield Bank. It would seem that for China’s declaration of sovereignty over Zhongsha to be taken as also including Scarborough Shoal, the onus was on China to specifically mention that its claim to Zhongsha also included Scarborough Shoal.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-10-31): China claims sovereignty over 80 percent of the South China Sea, pitting it against the territorial claims of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The sea's Scarborough Shoal, known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, has effectively been under Chinese control since 2012 and is at the heart of much of the recent escalation between Beijing and Manila. The Southern Theater Command of China's military issued a statement Monday saying a Philippine ship trespassing near Scarborough Shoal had "seriously violated China's sovereignty and international law and basic norms governing international relations." The statement warned the Philippines that such actions were "highly likely to cause misunderstanding and miscalculation." [...] China moved in on Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after its maritime forces intervened to prevent Philippine law enforcement from arresting Chinese fishermen who were fishing illegally. After a weeks-long standoff both sides agreed to leave the area. The Philippines' forces honored the agreement, but China's did not, and they have maintained a presence there ever since.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-07-07): South China Sea: The battle for Scarborough Shoal Five years ago this month, the Philippines won a landmark legal victory over China, concerning territorial incursions in the disputed South China Sea. A tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Beijing had been unlawful in its occupation and blockade of traditional Filipino fishing grounds, including Scarborough Shoal.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-05-26): China has long claimed sovereignty over Scarborough and other shoals, reefs and barren islands in the West Philippine Sea. It sits inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone but is also part of the broader South China Sea. [...] But it emphasised that it was not deciding sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal and the tribunal noted that it would reach the same conclusion with respect to the traditional fishing rights of Chinese fishermen if the Philippines were to prevent fishing by Chinese nationals at Scarborough Shoal. [...] China this month reiterated its claim to Scarborough Shoal in a statement retaliating to an online attack by the Philippines' Foreign Secretary, Teodoro Locsin. It also denied there were armed militia on any of its vessels.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-16): The Scarborough Shoal, a triangular coral reef formation which surrounds a lagoon, is famed for its rich waters and marine resources. It is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and 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). [...] China, which does not recognize the ruling, also claims sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, which it calls "Huangyan Dao" and treats it as part of the Zhongsha Islands. [...] "The official maps of the Philippine territory during the Spanish regime, starting from 1734, 1808, until 1875, that’s just a few years before the Paris Treaty of 1898, all show that Scarborough Shoal is part of Philippine territory," Carpio said.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-03): - The Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia failed to block a Philippine Coast Guard resupply mission near Scarborough Shoal on April 30. This is the latest PRC effort to enforce the CCP’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. [...] The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) failed to block a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) resupply mission near Scarborough Shoal on April 30. This is the latest PRC effort to enforce the CCP’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.[34] The CCG deployed four ships, the CMM deployed six ships, and the PCG and BFAR deployed two ships.[35] The CCG and CMM vessels hit the PCG and BFAR vessels eight times with high-pressure water cannons and rammed the vessel three times. The PCG ship suffered damage to its superstructure while the BFAR suffered minimal hull and electrical damage.[36] The Philippines' resupply mission was successful, nonetheless.[37] The CCG also reinstalled a floating barrier covering the entrance of Scarborough Shoal on April 30 to prevent Philippine ships from accessing the shoal.[38] The CCG previously placed this barrier at Scarborough Shoal on September 20, 2023, and February 22, 2024, which the PCG then removed.[39]
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-29): Philippines vows to protect sovereignty in dismantling Chinese barrier it calls ‘clear violation’ in Scarborough Shoal Philippine officials in late September 2023 condemned the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for installing a floating barrier designed to keep Filipino boats out of a prime South China Sea fishing location. In dispatching divers to the disputed Scarborough Shoal waterway to dismantle the ropes and netting, the Philippine Coast Guard called the barrier a navigation hazard and "clear violation" of international law. [...] The Philippines claims Scarborough Shoal, within its exclusive economic zone, and its access to the shoal was upheld by the 2016 tribunal ruling. Beijing has refused to acknowledge the ruling and maintains a constant presence of coast guard vessels and militia in the area, according to news reports.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-05-03): - The Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia failed to block a Philippine Coast Guard resupply mission near Scarborough Shoal on April 30. This is the latest PRC effort to enforce the CCP’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. [...] The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) failed to block a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) resupply mission near Scarborough Shoal on April 30. This is the latest PRC effort to enforce the CCP’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.[34] The CCG deployed four ships, the CMM deployed six ships, and the PCG and BFAR deployed two ships.[35] The CCG and CMM vessels hit the PCG and BFAR vessels eight times with high-pressure water cannons and rammed the vessel three times. The PCG ship suffered damage to its superstructure while the BFAR suffered minimal hull and electrical damage.[36] The Philippines’ resupply mission was successful, nonetheless.[37] The CCG also reinstalled a floating barrier covering the entrance of Scarborough Shoal on April 30 to prevent Philippine ships from accessing the shoal.[38] The CCG previously placed this barrier at Scarborough Shoal on September 20, 2023, and February 22, 2024, which the PCG then removed.[39]
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-07-06): In the Spratly Island chain, China occupies and has undertaken large-scale land reclamation activities on seven geographic features over which the Philippines also claims sovereignty. Since a stand-off with the Philippines in 2012, China has also controlled Scarborough Shoal. Because different categories of features generate different levels of maritime rights under UNCLOS, the Philippines' case seeks a ruling from the tribunal on the physical status of each of those China-occupied features. The Philippines also seeks a ruling on the physical status of Second Thomas Shoal, a geographic feature located 105 nautical miles west of the Philippine island of Palawan that is claimed by both the Philippines and China. The Philippines beached a landing craft, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the shoal in 1999. With the condition of the BRP Sierra Madre deteriorating and China harassing Philippine navy ships seeking to resupply the military personnel stationed on it, many analysts consider the Philippines' control of Second Thomas Shoal to be tenuous.18
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-01-01): The Scarborough Shoal Standoff and the Policy of the People’s Republic of China Towards Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea [...] Keywords: South China Sea; People’s Republic of China’s foreign policy; Scarborough Shoal Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to distinguish the key assumptions and instruments of the People’s Republic of China’s foreign policy towards territorial disputes in which this country is involved (with particular focus on the conflicts over islands and features in the South China Sea) through in-depth analysis of PRC’s policy in the conflict over Scarborough Shoal. According to the working hypothesis the events that took place in 2012 and ultimately led to the PRC’s de facto control over the shoal could be viewed as a model for the country’s future actions in the regional conflicts.The article has been divided into three parts. The first one presents the subject matter of the dispute and its historical determinants. The latter characterizes the interests of individual countries involved in the conflict, their position, and the legal background to the dispute.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-14): In a next step, the tribunal determined the legal status of certain maritime features occupied by China in the South China Sea. Determining whether these are "islands", "rocks", "low-tide elevations" (LTEs) or "submerged banks" is important because, unlike fully entitled islands, rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own do not generate an EEZ and a CS. Consequently, rocks do not give rights to resource exploitation beyond their territorial sea. Furthermore, LTEs or submerged banks do not generate any maritime zone. The tribunal found most disputed maritime features not to be capable of generating an EEZ or CS: it classified Scarborough Shoal as a rock, and among those features in the Spratly Islands, it found Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Second Thomas Shoal to be LTEs, and Johnson Reef, Cuarteron Reef and Fiery Cross Reef to be mere rocks. However, contrary to the Philippines’ position, the tribunal concluded that Gaven Reef (North) and McKennan Reef are rocks that are not capable of generating an EEZ or a CS. [...] Scarborough Shoal is a disputed territory claimed by China, Taiwan and the Philippines. Since the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff, access to the shoal has been restricted by China. Scarborough Shoal forms a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and rocks with a perimeter of 46 km. It covers an area, including an inner lagoon, of 150 km2. The shoal’s highest point, South Rock, measures 1.8 m above water during high tide.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-15): The Philippines claims the northeastern section of the Spratly Islands as the Kalayaan Island Group, in addition to the Scarborough Shoal, which it calls the Bajo de Masinloc. Malaysia claims part of the Kalayaan Island, while China and Taiwan claim the entirety of the island group. China and Taiwan also claim the Scarborough Shoal, which is currently patrolled by Chinese maritime law enforcement vessels. In addition, the body of water enclosed within the nine-dash line promulgated by China and Taiwan overlaps with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf. [...] The Philippines claims that title to Scarborough Shoal passed from Spain to the United States in 1898 along with all other Spanish maritime features surrounding the Philippines archipelago. Following independence from the United States, the Philippines inherited title to the Scarborough Shoal. [...] – Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, 2011 "Since the adjacent waters of the relevant geological features are definite and subject to legal and technical measurement, the claim by the People’s Republic of China on the ‘relevant waters as well as the seabed and subsoil thereof’ (as reflected in the so-called 9-dash line map attached)…outside of the aforementioned relevant geological features in the KIG [Kalayaan Island Group] and their ‘adjacent waters’ would have no basis under international law, specifically UNCLOS."
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-15): In recent weeks, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has dispatched ships and other maritime forces to the disputed Spratly islands near the Philippines. The goal has been to coerce the Philippines into withdrawing from the contested Second Thomas Shoal, effectively ceding it to the PRC. China’s actions are in defiance of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration’s findings that undermine PRC claims to the Spratlys. They therefore constitute a serious challenge to the international rules governing maritime conduct, as well as to broader peace and stability in the South China Sea, through which enormous amounts of global trade flow. [...] China is clearly intent upon coercing the Philippines out of its position in the Spratlys, regardless of the Philippines’ formal legal rights and claims. Indeed, it is quite likely that the PCA findings have only strengthened the PRC’s resolve to secure the Spratlys (as well as the separate Scarborough Shoal and Macclesfield Bank territories). At the same time, the PRC is likely trying to signal to the region that American support is both escalatory and counterproductive. [...] As important, it will signal to Beijing that American willingness to confront Chinese salami-slicing tactics against its neighbors remains hollow. It is worth recalling that in 2012, the United States chose to persuade the Philippines to withdraw from Scarborough Shoal (a separate set of features north of the Spratlys) while making no effort to compel the PRC to do the same. In effect, Washington forced Manila to cede that set of features to the PRC.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-06-01): See ibid., para.22. It is also noted that seven of the maritime features, excluding the eighth maritime feature, the Scarborough Shoal, which the Philippines considers as rocks, reefs, low tide elevations or submerged features, are well within 200 miles from the Taiping Dao (Ita Abu Island). Measured from the Yongxing Dao (the Woody Island), the Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal) is situated at a distance of 301 miles but within the extended continental shelf of China. The situation of these features is the same even when they are measured from Zhongye Dao (Thitu Island), according to China illegally occupied by the Philippines; except that the Huangyan Dao (the Scarborough Shoal) is at a distance of 315 miles. See Sienho Yee, above n.13, 698-699.
Claim: Scarborough Shoal is a territory of People's Republic of China (Scarborough Shoal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-12-01): The PRC cannot lawfully assert a maritime claim â including any Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claims derived from Scarborough Reef and the Spratly Islands â vis-a-vis the Philippines in areas that the Tribunal found to be in the Philippinesâ EEZ or on its continental shelf. Beijingâs harassment of Philippine fisheries and offshore energy development within those areas is unlawful, as are any unilateral PRC actions to exploit those resources. In line with the Tribunalâs legally binding decision, the PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal, both of which fall fully under the Philippinesâ sovereign rights and jurisdiction, nor does Beijing have any territorial or maritime claims generated from these features. [...] The PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to (or derived from) James Shoal, an entirely submerged feature only 50 nautical miles from Malaysia and some 1,000 nautical miles from Chinaâs coast. James Shoal is often cited in PRC propaganda as the âsouthernmost territory of China.â International law is clear: An underwater feature likeÂ James Shoal cannot be claimed by any state and is incapable of generating maritime zones. James Shoal (roughly 20 meters below the surface) is not and never was PRC territory, nor can Beijing assert any lawful maritime rights from it.