The Scarborough Shoal standoff refers to the tensions between the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

over the disputed

Scarborough Shoal Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc (in Spanish language, Spanish), Panatag Shoal ( fil, Kulumpol ng Panatag, lit=serene cluster), Huangyan Island (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin zh, c=黄岩岛, p=Huáng Yán Dǎo, l=yellow rock isl ...

. Tensions began on April 8, 2012, after the attempted apprehension by the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an e ...

of eight mainland Chinese fishing vessels near the shoal.

Overview

The

is claimed by the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. On April 8, 2012, a

surveillance plane spotted eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored in the waters of Scarborough shoal. '' BRP Gregorio del Pilar'' was sent on the same day by the Philippine Navy to survey the vicinity of the shoal, and confirmed the presence of the fishing vessels and their ongoing activities. On April 10, 2012, ''BRP Gregorio del Pilar'' came to inspect the catch of the fishing vessels. The Filipino inspection team claimed that they discovered illegally collected

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

giant clam The giant clams are the members of the clam genus '' Tridacna'' that are the largest living bivalve mollusks. There are actually several species of "giant clams" in the genus '' Tridacna'', which are often misidentified for ''Tridacna gigas'', ...

s, and live

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

s inside the first vessel boarded by the team. ''BRP Gregorio del Pilar'' reported that they attempted to arrest the Chinese fishermen but were blocked by Chinese maritime surveillance ships, China Marine Surveillance 75 (''Zhongguo Haijian 75'') and China Marine Surveillance 84 (''Zhongguo Haijian 84''). Since then, tensions have continued between the two countries.

Reactions and related incidents

* In 2012, an unsuccessful call was made in the Philippines to

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

goods

made in China Made in China, Product of China or sometimes Made in PRC is a country of origin label affixed to products manufactured in the People's Republic of China. The ''Made in China'' label is the most recognizable label in the world today, due t ...

by the

Albay Albay,