New Delhi: Nearly 10 years after the Philippines won a case against China at a Hague-based tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration over sovereignty rights on Scarborough Shoal, tensions between the two Asian nations have escalated again.

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Monday announced that it has dispatched vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea in response to a joint US-Philippines maritime drill in the waters near Scarborough Shoal over the weekend.The statement came after Manila said four Chinese vessels monitored the maritime exercise near the shoal.

Manila is fearful that China is preparing to take permanent control of the South China Sea shoal, which is about 120 nautical miles (222 km) west of the Philippine island of Luzon and is considered part of the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).Gilbert Teodoro, Defence Secretary of the Philippines, told Financial Times in an interview that the threat of permanent Chinese control is “significantly higher” than before. In the interview, published on 21 June, Teodoro said China has been operating a maritime research vessel in the disputed area. He said it could be “something to prod us with on the 10th anniversary of the arbitration award”.Beijing has previously used research vessels to map and conduct activities with the apparent aim of developing artificial islands in disputed waters.In April 2026, based on satellite images, it was reported that China had created a 352-metre floating barrier at the entrance to the shoal. Tensions escalated in June when Manila took diplomatic action to protest against an “illegal structure” at the shoal. The country’s South China Sea task force claimed to have found a 6 by 6 metre, floating structure with an antenna. China removed the floating structure last week.After years of patrolling along Beijing’s nine-dash line claim, the China Coast Guard (CCG) last year seems to have concentrated its efforts at Scarborough Shoal by maintaining an unprecedented level of presence.A graphic representation of the nine-dash line in the South China Sea (in green) | Wikimedia Commons