The Philippines has protested a Chinese plan to create a nature preserve on Scarborough Shoal, a contested reef in the South China Sea, with a top official saying that it could create a pretext for the feature’s “eventual occupation.”
On Wednesday, China’s State Council approved a proposal to establish a national nature reserve at Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal.
The reserve will cover more than 3,500 hectares on the shoal, with the aim of protecting its fragile coral reef ecosystem, according to China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration. In a statement, the State Council described the establishment of the nature preserve as “an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of Huangyan Island’s natural ecosystem.” It also called for stronger enforcement against “illegal activities” at the reserve.
The Chinese government has released a map of the proposed nature reserve, which covers the entire northeastern side of the shoal. This in turn consists of a “core zone” surrounded by two “experimental zones.”
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs promised yesterday to lodge a “formal diplomatic protest against this illegitimate and unlawful action.”
“The Philippines strongly protests the recent approval by the State Council of China of the establishment of the so-called ‘Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve,’” it said. “Bajo de Masinloc is a longstanding and integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction. The Philippines likewise has the exclusive authority to establish environmental protection areas over its territory and relevant maritime zones.”
In a statement, National Security Adviser Eduardo M. Ano said that Beijing’s move was “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.” He described it as a “a clear pretext towards eventual occupation.”
The declaration of the natural reserve does mark a new step in China’s effort to reinforce its hold over Scarborough Shoal, a triangular barrier of reefs about 222 kilometers west of Luzon island, but 870 kilometers from Hainan, China’s southernmost province.
The feature has been under de facto Chinese control since a protracted stand-off between the two countries in 2012. It has also been the locus of frequent disputes over the past few years, most of them focusing on Chinese efforts to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering the shoal’s internal lagoon.
The Chinese move is a likely response to an embarrassing incident on August 11, in which two Chinese vessels – a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship and a CCG patrol boat – collided with each other while pursuing a Philippine patrol vessel around 10.5 nautical miles east of Scarborough Shoal. According to the Philippine Coast Guard, the collision resulted in substantial damage to the CCG vessel’s forecastle, “rendering it unseaworthy.” (The Chinese government did not officially acknowledge the collision.)
As Collin Koh, an analyst at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, wrote on X, the creation of the nature reserve was a form of “lawfare” that would give Chinese forces, including the China Coast Guard, “the justification to interdict and apprehend foreign, especially Filipino, entities.”
Responding to the Philippine government yesterday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian denied that the shoal had ever been part of Philippine territory and rejected what it called “groundless accusations or so-called protests” from Manila.
“We urge the Philippines to immediately cease its infringements, provocations, and wanton hype, so as to avoid adding complicating factors to the maritime situation,” Lin said.