A small Filipino crew has a dangerous mission: They are to sail to a disputed coral atoll in the South China Sea, cut through a floating barrier used to block Philippine fishing boats and leave before Chinese vessels can spot them.
Last week, the Chinese coast guard placed a floating barrier near the Scarborough Shoal, hindering the fishing activities of Filipino fishermen.
Then President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the decision: The barrier had to be removed.
Security officials devised a simple but bold plan. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said they would try to slip past four Chinese Coast Guard vessels in the area without attracting attention and then cut the barrier.
So a few days after the Chinese placed the barrier, a small group of Philippine coast guards set off in a wooden fishing boat. They were not in uniform and tried to pose as fishermen.

Video shows members of the Philippine Coast Guard performing a "special mission" underwater to remove a floating barrier allegedly erected by China in the South China Sea last week. A Philippine Coast Guard spokesman said China had erected the barrier to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering the Scarborough Shoal, which China calls Scarborough Shoal, in clear violation of international law.

They managed to get close to the floating barrier on the southeast side of Scarborough Shoal. A diver dives into the water and sneaks to a rope that holds one end of the barrier in place. A video released Monday by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the diver quickly sawing the rope with a knife before cutting it free. The rest of the crew pulled the anchor holding the barrier on board and left.
Tarriela said the barrier had failed and could no longer block access to the atolls.

It's a bold little move that, in a way, has no real impact on Filipino fishermen. The fishermen cannot enter the atoll because it is always guarded by Chinese ships.
But it was an act of defiance against a powerful rival and a new push by the Philippines to push back against Chinese claims in the South China Sea.
The goal, Tarriela said, was "to show the Filipino people, to show the world, that we are now going to stand up to bullying." "That's the main message of our campaign," Tarriela said.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte played down China's actions in the South China Sea, with some members of his administration pointing out that Manila had a huge gap in power and resources with Beijing and should improve relations with the latter. Under Marcos, who took office 15 months ago, a different strategy has emerged: publicly naming and shaming China's tactics - and sometimes going a step further.
On Wednesday, the Chinese coast guard denied that the Philippines had removed the barriers, saying China had taken the initiative to withdraw them. China's coast guard said it had deployed nets after a Philippine fisheries department vessel ran into a lagoon in the center of Scarborough Shoal. The Philippines denies the claim.
China claims most of the South China Sea, including areas far from its coastline and within the exclusive economic zones of several other countries in the region, putting it at odds with those countries. Over the past decade, Beijing has sought to assert its sovereignty over the South China Sea by filling in artificial islands and turning them into military bases with missiles, runways and radars.
China's coast guard and what is arguably the world's largest fleet of fishermen patrol the seas extensively, tracking ships from rival countries and flooding into hot disputed areas. And countries like the Philippines are badly outmatched by China.
While his predecessors favored cooperation with China, Marcos opted to strengthen the security alliance between the Philippines and the United States. In February, the United States and the Philippines announced a major expansion of their defense cooperation agreement, expanding the number of Philippine military bases that the United States can access to from five to nine.

A Philippine fishing boat was sailing near Scarborough Shoal (known in China as Huangyan Island) when it encountered a Chinese vessel.

Chinese coast guard ships sent warning messages to Philippine vessels.

The Philippines' move to strengthen ties with the United States has angered China. 'Recent events in the South China Sea clearly prove that the Philippines, with the encouragement and support of the United States, is once again stirring up trouble in the South China Sea,' said an editorial in the state-run China Daily this week.
Scarborough Shoal is often seen as a potential hot spot in the South China Sea. China seized the shoal from the Philippines in 2012 after a lengthy standoff. If Philippine and Chinese forces clash there again, the situation could escalate and potentially draw in the United States. Some security analysts say the Chinese government could try to build and militarize Scarborough Shoal, as it has on other reefs in the South China Sea, which would give China more influence and control.
This triangular reef surrounds a resource-rich lagoon that can only be accessed through a gap. Before 2012, Filipino fishermen often entered the lagoon to catch fish and escape the bad weather. Since China seized Scarborough Shoal, Filipino fishermen have been unable to access it, though they have generally been able to fish around the shoal.

Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China) in the South China Sea in this photo provided by Planet Labs.

Chinese Coast guard vessels are present at all times in Scarborough Shoal, with at least one guarding the breach leading to the lagoon. Other vessels patrol the surrounding area, shadowing Philippine Coast Guard and fisheries department vessels and keeping them away, often keeping them within eight or 10 nautical miles of the reef, Tarriela said.
For months, the Philippine side has been trying to move closer to Scarborough Shoal. "Whenever we succeed in reaching a specific goal, we keep trying to push forward," he says.
They made a breakthrough last week. On September 20, a fisheries administration vessel with a Coast Guard crew on board managed to reach its closest position about 950 feet from Scarborough Shoal. Tarriela said it was a milestone that an official Philippine crew had not been this close to Scarborough Shoal since 2012.
They were able to do that, he said, because there were journalists on board. In front of the cameras, China's coast guard acted less aggressively.
"They're usually the kind of opponent that will knock you down," he said. This time, he said, "they try to block at a certain distance, but because of their hesitation to get closer, you have the opportunity to move and lose them."
The inclusion of journalists in the patrols is part of a new Philippine strategy this year: frequent and public exposure of Chinese actions. The Philippines has issued detailed statements about what it says are dangerous actions by China, such as the firing of a green laser beam at a Philippine ship by Chinese troops in February. Last month, the Armed Forces of the Philippines released a video of the Chinese coast Guard firing water cannons.
As the Philippine fisheries administration vessel with the journalists on board approached Scarborough Shoal, the crew noticed that Chinese personnel on the inflatable vessel were erecting the floating barrier. The buoy barrier is positioned at the entrance to the shallow lagoon and anchored from both sides. Filipino fishermen have told officials that such barriers are often erected when the Chinese see a large number of Filipino fishing boats in the area. About 50 Philippine fishing boats were there that day.

A photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard shows Chinese Coast Guard vessels patrolling next to Chinese fishing boats near Scarborough Shoal in 2022.

The move suggests the Philippines is considering new ways to enforce its rights in the South China Sea, but others warn of the risks.
"We still need to think about what will happen if China chooses to escalate repression," said Julio S. Amador III, chief executive of Amador Research Services, a consulting firm. "You have to think about what the end goal is and how the Philippines is going to respond to any further escalation of Chinese actions."
However, Tarriela said the Philippine Coast Guard's latest operation was far from comparable to China's tactics.
"China uses military-grade lasers. China has done a lot of dangerous things. China used water cannons. They have carried out a lot of provocative, aggressive, escalatory actions, "Tarriela said. "Are they unhappy because we cut their mooring lines?"