MANILA - The Philippine Coast Guard said on Thursday that China has removed a structure it installed at a contested South China Sea atoll within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone following protests.
China has said the structure was a "temporary" floating platform used for studying the ecosystem of the Scarborough Shoal and that the research, which began in late May, had been completed.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela said in a press briefing that the platform was seen being dismantled and loaded onto a Chinese vessel during an air patrol on Tuesday. It has not been spotted in the waters since, though Chinese coast guard vessels and a research ship remained in the area.
Tarriela said that whatever data China collected in the area could be used for military purposes given the "wide spectrum of scientific research," urging the country to publicize study results "if they're not hiding anything."
China, which claims a vast part of the South China Sea, effectively controls the shoal. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.
In September, China designated some 3,500 hectares in the Scarborough Shoal as a nature reserve.
