China’s Scarborough ‘nature reserve’ a pretext for occupation — NSC
MANILA, Philippines — The National Security Council warned on Thursday, September 11, that China’s plan to establish a nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal is less about environmental protection than laying the groundwork for “eventual occupation” of the reef.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said China’s planned “Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve” is “patently illegal,” citing violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 arbitral ruling in favor of Manila, and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
“This move by the PRC 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,” Año said in a statement. “It is a clear pretext towards eventual occupation.”
Reef destruction raised
The NSC pointed out what it called the “irony” of China invoking ecological protection after years of documented destruction at the shoal.
Año noted that the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling cited evidence of Chinese fishermen harvesting endangered species and damaging coral reefs at Scarborough.
“To now claim stewardship over an ecosystem that they themselves have damaged is both contradictory and misleading,” he said.
The NSC stressed that real conservation would require cooperation, transparency, and compliance with international law, not unilateral measures that could further restrict Filipino fishermen’s access to traditional fishing grounds.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it will file a diplomatic protest against Beijing’s plan, branding it “illegal and illegitimate.”
Beijing’s defense
China’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed Manila’s objections and defended the reserve plan as consistent with its sovereign rights.
“Huangyan Dao has always been China’s territory. To establish the Huangyan Dao national nature reserve is within China’s sovereign rights, which is aimed at protecting the ecological environment of the island, and ensuring its ecological diversity, continuity and sustainability,” China foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday in Beijing, according to an English translation.
Lin added that the plan was in line with “China’s domestic laws and international law,” framing it as proof of Beijing’s “resolve to actively protect the ecological environment and a sustainable planet.”
Lin urged the Philippines “to stop violating China’s sovereignty, making provocation, and spreading disinformation, and stop creating factors that could complicate the situation at sea.”
Scarborough Shoal has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing. Located 120 nautical miles off Zambales province, the reef is a rich fishing ground and well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS.
China seized de facto control of the shoal in 2012 after a tense naval standoff, despite a US-brokered agreement for mutual withdrawal.
Since then, China Coast Guard vessels have maintained near-constant presence at the reef, severely limiting the entry of Filipino fishers who consider the waters their traditional fishing grounds.
The arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s claim to “historic rights” within its nine-dash line had no legal basis, and that Beijing had unlawfully prevented Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing at Scarborough Shoal.
However, the tribunal did not rule on the question of sovereignty and did not delimit any maritime boundary.
The tribunal also found Beijing responsible for causing “permanent and irreparable harm” to the marine environment in the South China Sea through large-scale clam harvesting and reef destruction.
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