President Rodrigo Duterte has banned all foreign scientific exploration on a vast undersea plateau claimed by Manila, his spokesman said Tuesday, now that China has completed its research there. Authorities announced three weeks ago that the President had allowed China to conduct research at Benham Rise off the country’s Pacific coast, despite the two nations’ decades-old maritime disputes elsewhere in the region.

Ban on Benham in force: Rody lets China explorers in, bars other aliens. (2018, February 7). Manila Standard, pp. A1, A2.