A so-called "civilian group" from the Philippines landed on China's Tiexian Reef.

China Coast Guard officers quickly boarded the reef to conduct inspections, raised the national flag to reaffirm sovereignty, and collected evidence of the Philippine side's illegal activities.

They carried out a full sweep using metal detectors and even cleared waste left behind — plastic bottles brought by those very intruders.

This was never a civilian, spontaneous action. It was planned. It challenges China's territorial sovereignty, violates the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and causes ecological damage to the reef.