Authorities from the Philippines have warned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that it will file daily diplomatic protests unless China removes the several dozen ships presently occupying Whitsun Reef. The reef is located within Manila’s 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Dr. Collin Koh, a maritime security Research Fellow at RSIS, said that the missile base could be a warning from China given that PetroVietnam is considering exploring the South China Sea for natural gas. “[By installing missiles], they wanted to pre-empt and, if necessary, stop the other South China Sea claimants from embarking on those offshore exploration projects within claims that China is making,” Koh told Voice of America.