<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Demographics </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Population </Th> <Td> 0 </Td> </Tr> <P> Scarborough Shoal, also known as Panatag Shoal (Filipino: Kulumpol ng Panatag),, Bajo de Masinloc,, Huangyan Dao (simplified Chinese: 黄岩 岛; traditional Chinese: 黃岩 島; pinyin: Huángyán Dǎo), and Democracy Reef (Chinese: 民主 礁; pinyin: Mínzhǔ Jiāo) is a shoal located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon island in the South China Sea . </P> <P> It is a disputed territory claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the Philippines . The shoal's status is often discussed in conjunction with other territorial disputes in the South China Sea such as those involving the Spratly Islands, and the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff . It formerly was administered by the Philippines, however, due to the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff, where China sent warships to invade the shoal, the administration of the shoal was taken by People's Republic of China . It was initially expected for the United States to defend the territory of the Philippines during the standoff as the two nations had a Mutual Defense Treaty, however, the United States chose to move itself away from the tension, and used' verbal protests' against China instead . The aftermath of the standoff ultimately strained Philippines - China relations and Philippines - United States relations, resulting to Filipino officials calling the United States an' unreliable ally', a statement echoed by other nations . The event also solidified China's expansionist ideals in the Asia - Pacific region . In 2013, the Philippines solely filed an international case against China in the UN-backed court in The Hague, Netherlands . In 2016, the court officially dismissed China's so - called "9 - dash claim" in the entire South China Sea and upheld the Philippine claim in the West Philippine Sea, which includes Scarborough Shoal . China rejected the UN-backed international court's decision and sent more warships in Scarborough Shoal and other islands controlled by China . </P>

Scarborough shoal and spratly island are the same