Philippines to protest China's planned construction on disputed shoal

Manila

THE Philippines plans to file a strong protest against China after it announced preparatory work for an environmental monitoring station on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, a Cabinet minister said on Tuesday.

China started blockading the Scarborough Shoal, an outcrop within the Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), five years ago and the United States has warned Beijing against carrying out land reclamation work there.