The United States rejected as destabilizing a Chinese government bid to gain control over a disputed South China Sea reef by setting up a nature preserve, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.
“The United States stands with our Philippine ally in rejecting China’s destabilizing plans to establish a ’national nature reserve’ at Scarborough Reef,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement.
“Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors, including by preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing these traditional fishing grounds.”
China’s State Council announced Sept. 10 it was establishing a “natural nature reserve” on Scarborough Reef, which the government calls Huangyan Island.
A day later, the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration released plans for the reserve that would preserve the coral reef.
China has been faulted for its large-scale destruction of coral reefs in the South China Sea in its island-building by moving millions of tons of sand from the sea bottom.
Chinese fishing has also damaged the giant clam population through deeper trawling around the shoal.
The Chinese action at the reef is part of continuing actions by Beijing to undermine regional stability, Mr. Rubio said.
The secretary called on China’s leaders to abide by the landmark 2016 unanimous ruling by an international Arbitral Tribunal that stated China’s moves to control large swaths of the South China Sea under a so-called Nine Dash Line were illegal under international law.
Chinese efforts to prevent Filipino fishermen from fishing at Scarborough Reef were also deemed illegal and the ruling is final and legally binding, Mr. Rubio said.
China affairs analysts said the Chinese action at Scarborough Reef is part of Beijing’s use of legal warfare to advance its control over the strategic South China Sea.
The sea is home to an estimated $5 trillion annually in foreign trade, and China, since the early 2010s, has been reclaiming islands in the sea and, in recent years militarized the islands with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated in a report on Chinese lawfare in May that satellite imagery shows Chinese ecological destruction at Scarborough Shoal.
“Despite China’s 2024 claim that the environmental condition of Scarborough Shoal is ’excellent,’ open source intelligence demonstrates sustained, CCP-sponsored ecological destruction in the South China Sea linked to the giant clam shell trade,” the report said.
“China’s destructive fishing techniques at Scarborough Shoal are more than an isolated instance – indeed, the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal noted that ’the Tribunal’s experts also observe from satellite imagery the presence of tell-tale arc-shaped scars at Cuarteron, Fiery Cross, Gaven, Hughes and Mischief Reefs, indicating extensive propeller damage on the reef flats by boats likely harvesting giant clams,’” the report said.
The Chinese nature reserve appears to be an attempt by Beijing to harden an artificial exclusion zone around Scarborough that could be the prelude for another island-building program by China, analysts say.
The Philippine Foreign Ministry protested the plan for the reserve.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the reef is Chinese territory and the nature reserve is being carried out under China’s sovereignty.
“China does not accept the Philippines’ unreasonable accusations or so-called protests, and urges the Philippines to immediately stop its infringements, provocations, and reckless hype to avoid adding complicating factors to the maritime situation,” Mr. Lin said.
