Taiwan affirms South China Sea sovereignty after Manila move

[Beijingwalker]

Taiwan affirms South China Sea sovereignty after Manila move​

Mon, Aug 03, 2026

The Republic of China (ROC) government yesterday reiterated its sovereignty claim over islands in the South China Sea after the Philippines deposited its official nautical chart with the UN related to an atoll claimed by Manila, Taipei and Beijing.

In addition to reaffirming the ROC’s claim over the South China Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said any disputes in the South China Sea “should be resolved peacefully in accordance with international law and the law of the sea.”

It also insisted that “Taiwan should be included in multilateral dispute settlement mechanisms.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ emblem is pictured in an undated photograph.​

Photo: Taipei Times

MOFA’s statement was released after Manila deposited its official nautical chart of Scarborough Shoal with the UN last week to reinforce its claim over the atoll, which lies roughly 220 kilometers from the west coast of central Luzon Island.

“The deposit was made pursuant to Article 16 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

The Law of the Sea “requires coastal States to give due publicity to official charts or lists of geographical coordinates showing the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured,” it said.

The chart depicted the outer limits of its 12-nautical-mile territorial sea and 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone around the shoal based on its baseline, which corresponds to the low water line along a coast.

Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Dao in China, Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines, and Democracy Reef (民主礁) in Taiwan, is claimed by all three governments.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it would not accept the Philippines’ establishment of baselines around Scarborough Shoal, calling the move “illegal and invalid.”

 

[Beijingwalker]

A detailed map of the Republic of China​

 

[Beijingwalker]

KMT accuses Taiwan’s government of failing to uphold South China Sea claims​

Opposition figure calls on DPP administration to protest to Manila over Philippine attempt to chart a boundary around Scarborough Shoal​

Lawrence Chungin Taipei
Published: 10:00am, 4 Aug 2026

Opposition parties in Taiwan have accused the government of failing to defend the island’s long-standing claims in the South China Sea, following its muted response to Philippine attempts to delimit a disputed shoal.

“The government speaks loudly when confronting mainland China, but falls silent when Japan or the Philippines challenges Taiwan’s claims,” Kuomintang culture and communications committee director Chen I-hsin said on Sunday.

Chen was referring to the Philippines’ move to assert territorial sea baselines claims around Scarborough Shoal, a group of tiny, low-lying rocky islets off the east coast of Luzon.

The shoal is called Huangyan Island in mainland China, Minzhu Reef in Taiwan and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines – and claimed by all.

Last week, Manila filed its official nautical chart for Scarborough Shoal with the United Nations.

In the chart, the Philippines defines its claims to the shoal’s “territorial sea baseline”, along with the outer limits of its 12-nautical-mile (22km) territorial sea and 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone.

KMT accuses Taiwan’s government of failing to uphold South China Sea claims

Opposition figure calls on DPP administration to protest to Manila over Philippine attempt to chart a boundary around Scarborough Shoal.

www.scmp.com

 

[Beijingwalker]

Chinese Warships, Bombers Surge to Scarborough Shoal for Drills​

AARON-MATTHEW LARIOSA
AUGUST 3, 2026 12:50 PM

PLAN amphibious group at Scarborough Shoal on Aug. 1, 2026. PLA photo
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Beijing surged an amphibious group and bombers equipped for maritime strike to Scarborough Shoal over the weekend, flexing its power projection capabilities at the disputed South China Sea maritime feature 120 nautical miles off the Philippines.

Chinese forces took to the air and the water around Scarborough Shoal for a series of drills. According to a Saturday news release from the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, the drills were designed to “safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

China attributes possession of Scarborough Shoal under its 10-Dash Line claim, which encompasses the majority of the South China Sea and waters around Taiwan. The dispute has fueled over a decade of low intensity clashes with the Philippines, manifesting at the flashpoints of Second Thomas, Sabina and Scarborough shoals.

The news release from the command showcases a formation composed of the PLAN’s most advanced warships sailing near Scarborough Shoal on Saturday. The force included a Type 052D-class guided-missile destroyer, Type 071-class landing platform dock, Type 054A-class frigate and a Type 056A-class corvette. The Type 071’s embarked landing craft and aviation complement, which also included a new Z-20 helicopter, were also deployed around Scarborough Shoal.

In the air, Chinese forces sortied at least two H-6K bombers equipped with supersonic YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missiles. Beijing routinely deploys these long-range strike aircraft in pairs following Philippine-led maritime cooperative activities to showcase their ship-sinking capabilities. One KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft was also highlighted in media covering the drills.

The PLA Southern Theater Command conducted joint naval air training on Aug. 1, 2026, near Scarborough Shoal. PLA photo
The Chinese military’s show of force on Saturday followed another drill around Scarborough Shoal that involved the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s newest class of guided-missile frigate and light combat aircraft.

The deployment of PLA forces off Luzon represents the new normal that has developed in response to Philippine efforts.

While Manila has expanded drills to the contested areas, Chinese forces maintain the capability to deny and overwhelm their Philippine counterparts. Saturday’s drills saw a deployment of Chinese warships and strike aircraft with missile capabilities that can strike the bulk of Manila’s forces with impunity in a contingency. Philippine warships procured in the country’s recent modernization programs lack the air defense systems and anti-ship missiles needed to counter the Chinese frigates and destroyers they face off against.

With the disparity of forces, Washington is looking to give Manila the ability to combat Beijing’s large conventional fleet with one-way attack drones and unmanned surface vessels. The initiative, dubbed the Asymmetric Capabilities Program, plans to transfer armed drones and lethal capabilities to the Armed Forces of the Philippines by 2027.

https://news.usni.org/2026/08/03/chinese-warships-bombers-surge-to-scarborough-shoal-for-drills

 

[Beijingwalker]

Let's see PRC and ROC who is a better defender of the Chinese lands.

 

[Viet]

Let's see PRC and ROC who is a better defender of the Chinese lands.

Big powers come with big responsibilities, not grab as much as you can.
But that’s ok why should Chinese behave differently than the greedy Americans and Russians.

 

[ety]

Big powers come with big responsibilities, not grab as much as you can.
But that’s ok why should Chinese behave differently than the greedy Americans and Russians.

I think you should first look at your own Vietnam's behaviors in SCS before pointing finger at China. Vietnam is the first country to make islands reclamations in SCS , currently still doing so at large scale, and occupies by far the most number of island reefs in Spratly Islands with 27, China has only 7.

 

[ety]

The Taiwan DPP party and gov are traitors. They will sell the islands in SCS and East China Sea or almost anything on Taiwan just to get foreign countries to support their delusional island independence cause. When China recovers Taiwan, those traitors in charge should be hanged.

 

[Viet]

I think you should first look at your own Vietnam's behaviors in SCS before pointing finger at China. Vietnam is the first country to make islands reclamations in SCS , currently still doing so at large scale, and occupies by far the most number of island reefs in Spratly Islands with 27, China has only 7.

Are u serious? The Philippines have 7,600 islands you complain Vietnam 27? If I am not mistaken we have 0 islands before China coast before Shanghai.

 

[ety]

Are u serious? The Philippines have 7,600 islands you complain Vietnam 27? If I am not mistaken we have 0 islands before China coast before Shanghai.

What are you talking about. Filipin's 7,600 islands are not in the disputed Spratly islands chains, it has 8 islands and reefs there. And what does Vietnam has to do with East China Sea, Vietnam are thousands of KM away from it, not connected to it and you want a piece on the islands off coast around Shanghai, keep daydreaming.

 

[Beijingwalker]

Big powers come with big responsibilities, not grab as much as you can.
But that’s ok why should Chinese behave differently than the greedy Americans and Russians.

ROC ( Taiwan) occupies the biggest island in the Spratly