Beijing [China], October 23: Satellite images show that China has installed a new floating barrier at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, according to the South China Morning Post on the evening of October 23.
Satellite images collected by Satellogic, a geospatial company headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, show a floating barrier blocking the entrance to a lagoon at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea , according to the South China Morning Post .
"New satellite imagery shows an illegal floating barrier installed by China at the mouth of Scarborough Shoal ," Luke Fischer, CEO and co-founder of SkyFi, a US satellite data app, wrote on social media.
"This is just a particularly vivid image from space. However, the intention is clearly to restrict access to the shoal," Mr. Fischer commented.
Earlier on October 20, the South China Morning Post reported that a Chinese naval supply ship was reportedly seen resupplying a Chinese Coast Guard vessel near Scarborough Shoal.
The move shows growing coordination between the navy and the China Coast Guard amid rising tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea, according to the South China Morning Post .
According to ABS-CBN (Philippines), two Chinese warships and four coast guard vessels, as well as several Chinese maritime militia vessels, were monitored by the Philippine Coast Guard near Scarborough Shoal on October 17.
There is no word yet on China's reaction to the new information from the South China Morning Post and ABS-CBN.
China seized control of the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea from the Philippines after a tense standoff between ships from both sides in 2012. The disputed shoal is located 240 km west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and nearly 900 km from China's Hainan Island, according to AFP.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper