{"id":420659,"date":"2025-09-13T08:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T08:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/420659\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T08:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T08:45:18","slug":"us-condemns-beijings-south-china-sea-nature-reserve-plan-south-china-sea-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/420659\/","title":{"rendered":"US condemns Beijing\u2019s South China Sea \u2018nature reserve\u2019 plan | South China Sea News"},"content":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s plan to build a nature reserve in the Scarborough Shoal brings strong responses from the Philippines and US.<\/p>\n

Published On 13 Sep 202513 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

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United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed support for Manila\u2019s opposition<\/a> to Beijing\u2019s plan to designate the contested Scarborough Shoal as a \u201cnature reserve\u201d, characterising the move as part of a broader Chinese strategy of coercion in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US stands with our Philippine ally in rejecting China\u2019s destabilising plans to establish a \u2018national nature reserve\u2019 at Scarborough Reef,\u201d Rubio wrote on the X social media platform on Friday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is yet another coercive attempt to advance China\u2019s interests at the expense of its neighbours and regional stability,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 Claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is another example of Beijing using pressure tactics to push expansive maritime and territorial claims, disregarding the rights of neighbouring countries,\u201d he added in a statement.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, China\u2019s State Council revealed its intention to establish a nature reserve spanning 3,500 hectares (8,650 acres) on the disputed islet, describing the initiative as an \u201cimportant guarantee for maintaining \u2026 diversity, stability and sustainability\u201d.<\/p>\n

While Scarborough Shoal<\/a> lies 240km (150 miles) west of the Philippines\u2019 main island of Luzon and is included in the country\u2019s exclusive economic zone, it has been under Beijing\u2019s control since 2012.<\/p>\n

\"ThisA Philippine fishing boat sails past a Chinese coastguard ship after it was blocked from sailing near the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal in the disputed waters of the South China Sea [File: Ted Aljibe\/AFP]<\/p>\n

China\u2019s nature reserve plans drew a string of strong responses from the Philippines, where the Department of Foreign Affairs promised on Thursday to lodge a \u201cformal diplomatic protest against this illegitimate and unlawful action\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the Philippine Star news outlet, Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said China\u2019s planned \u201cHuangyan Island National Nature Reserve\u201d is \u201cpatently illegal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ano cited violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 arbitral ruling in favour of Manila regarding China\u2019s claims in the sea, and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis move by the People\u2019s Republic of China is less about protecting the environment and more about justifying its control over a maritime feature that is part of the territory of the Philippines and its waters lie within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines,\u201d Ano was quoted in the newspaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a clear pretext towards eventual occupation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leading Filipino business newspaper BusinessWorld included excerpts from analysts who said Beijing is likely testing Manila\u2019s resolve in asserting its claim over the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina will likely want to see what the response will be from the Philippines,\u201d said Julio S. Amador III, chief executive officer at Manila-based geopolitical risk firm Amador Research Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it sees that there is no effective pushback, then there is a strong possibility that it will try to do the same over other features,\u201d Amador said.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Philippines, Australia and Canada held joint naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal to simulate aerial attacks and how to counter such threats.<\/p>\n

China, for its part, has insisted it will defend the area.<\/p>\n

China asserts sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea \u2013 a strategic maritime corridor through which more than $3 trillion in trade passes each year \u2013 despite competing territorial claims from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China\u2019s plan to build a nature reserve in the Scarborough Shoal brings strong responses from the Philippines and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[11410,47632,1395,6178,2597,12,14966,41464,8406,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-420659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-asia-pacific","9":"tag-border-disputes","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-conflict","12":"tag-military","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-philippines","15":"tag-south-china-sea","16":"tag-united-nations","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115196115508623006","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}