Tensions began on April 8, 2012, after the attempted apprehension by the Philippine Navy of eight mainland Chinese fishing vessels near the shoal,[1]which resulted in the actual control of the atoll under China.

On April 8, 2012, a Philippine Navy surveillance plane spotted eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored in the waters of the 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 21, "Anonymous #Occupy Philippines" retaliated and attacked the China University Media Union website, defacing its homepage with an image of a Guy Fawkes mask.

After the attacks, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said that it didn't appear that the attacks would have any negative effect on the talks by Manila and Beijing to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff, and urged both Filipinos and Chinese to refrain from escalating tensions.

[11] Most Chinese travel agencies suspended tours to the Philippines due to the standoff over the Scarborough shoal.

The state-owned China Travel Service, Shanghai Tourism Bureau and Ctrip.com suspended all tours to the Philippines indefinitely citing the anti-Chinese sentiment in the country and for the safety of Chinese nationals.

The protesters sent an open letter to the authorities claiming that the Scarborough shoal has been a Chinese territory since 1279 during the Yuan Dynasty.

[15] The Chinese government unilaterally imposed a fishing ban in the South China Sea, where the Scarborough shoal lies, lasting from May 16 to August 1.

According to Faeldon, even though his plan pushed through, his group does not intend to plant a flag, as opposed to earlier reports, or to fish in the area.

Philippine president Benigno S. Aquino III later compared China's behavior to Nazi Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia.

By July 2012, China had erected a barrier to the entrance of the shoal, according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

[39] Which in turn outraged many Filipinos including Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. who filed many Démarche or more commonly known as Diplomatic Protests against the Chinese incursion to Beijing.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, with responsibility for the regulation of seabed mining beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, and with the power to settle disputes between party states.

According to Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), however, China's refusal would not necessarily impede the proceedings.