Manila Protests Beijing’s Floating ‘Structure’ in South China Sea

The Philippine military said it will not allow Beijing to turn Scarborough into another island base.

Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner speaks during a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the military headquarters in Manila on Oct. 3, 2025. Ted Aljbe/ AFP via Getty Images

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has protested the Chinese regime’s deployment of what Manila describes as a floating “structure” with personnel on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, fearing it could be a part of Beijing’s effort to turn the uninhabited atoll into an island base, Philippine officials said Tuesday.

The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said, without elaborating, that it lodged a protest over the Chinese regime’s latest action on the Scarborough Shoal, which was spotted by the Philippine military and coast guard.