Philippines Deposits Scarborough Shoal Chart Amid Regional Disputes

The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines deposited an official nautical chart of Scarborough Shoal with the United Nations on August 2, 2026, to reinforce its claim to the atoll. The agency stated the action was taken pursuant to Article 16 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This move prompted immediate responses from other claimants in the South China Sea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China rejected the establishment of baselines around the shoal, characterizing the action as a grave infringement upon Chinese sovereignty and describing it as illegal and invalid.

Simultaneously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China reaffirmed its own sovereignty claims over islands in the region. The Taiwanese agency argued that disputes should be resolved peacefully under international law and asserted that Taiwan should be included in multilateral dispute settlement mechanisms.