China’s latest Nature Reserve is a rock in the midst of one of the most disputed navigable roads in the world.
On Wednesday, the Chinese government approved a proposal to establish a national nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal, a much-disputed Recife in the Southern China Sea, to an unprecedented measure that triggered a new war of words with the Philippines, rival in the dispute.
The reserve will cover more than 3,500 hectares on Huangyan Island, Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal, with its coral reef ecosystem as the main protective target, according to China’s national forest and pasture administration.
The measure has caused strong filipin protests and marks a new step in China’s efforts to reinforce its territorial claims in the southern China Sea, a strategic and resource -rich warehouse through which it drives more than 60% of global maritime trade.
China claims almost the entire southern China sea, including areas to hundreds of kilometers from its continent, despite an international 2016 decision against its claim.
The Philippines will issue a formal diplomatic protest on the reserve, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, calling China’s action “illegitimate and illegal” and accusing it of infringing Manila’s rights and interests.
The statement states that the Philippines have sovereignty and jurisdiction over the sand bank, which they call Bajo de Masinloc, describing it as an “integral and long time” part of the Philippines.
The China Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded, saying it rejects the “unfounded accusations and so-called protests” of the Philippines and urges them to stop their “provocations and exaggerations.”
Located 200 km (124 miles) of the Philippines, Scarborough Shoal is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and has long been a frictional point between Beijing and Manila. The triangular chain of reefs and rocks is coveted by its strategic location, plenty of fish and paper as a refuge for boats during storms.
China has taken the uninhabited atoll – 870 km (540 miles) from its southernmost province, Hainan – in 2012, after a long impasse with the Philippine Navy, and has since maintained an almost constant presence of the coastal guard in the nearby waters. In recent years, it has intensified patrols, preventing the Philippine fishermen from accessing their traditional fishing zones.
The tensions reached the peak in August, when a Chinese navy fresher collided dramatically with a china coastal ship and severely damaged his bow while chasing a Philippine patrol near the Scarborough Recife – a collision that highlighted the danger of increasingly frequent and violent clashes between both sides.
Philippines are an ally of mutual defense from the United States, which means that serious confrontations between Beijing and Manila can quickly turn into something that involves the US Armed Forces in the dispute.
The moment when a Chinese war ship collided with its own coastal guard ship while chasing Filipino boats on August 11, 2025.
In a statement, the China Office, the State Council, called the establishment of the Nature Reserve “an important guarantee to maintain the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island.” He also requested a more rigorous inspection against “illegal activities” in the reserve.
Chinese experts greeted the measure as an important step in defending China’s territorial sovereignty and signaled that it could open a precedent for other southern China sea characteristics, according to state media reports.
A map released by the Chinese government shows the entire northeast edge of the atoll designated as a reserve, which consists of a “central zone” flanked by two “experimental zones”.
According to Chinese law, the central zone is strictly prohibited, while the experimental zone allows scientific research, educational activities and tourism. Construction is prohibited in central areas, but allowed in experimental areas. Foreigners must approve the Chinese authorities to enter any reserve.
Ding Duo, a researcher at the Southern China National Institute of Sea Studies, told the Global Times newspaper that the decision to create a natural reserve is a “strong refutation” to the accusations that China has damaged the southern China Sea Marine environment.
China’s narrative that plans to protect fragile ecosystems from the southern China Sea will probably cause astonishment among neighbors and conservationists, given that the years of building islands by Beijing in the disputed waters caused significant environmental damage.
The National Philippine National Security Counselor, Eduardo Año, said that the measure of China “has less to do with protecting the environment and more with justifying its control” on the maritime area.
“Irony is clear: Since 2016, evidence have shown a large scale capture of endangered species and the destruction of reefs by Chinese fishermen,” he said in a statement. “Now, claiming the management of an ecosystem they themselves have damaged is contradictory and misleading.”
A 2023 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that China buried about 4648 acres of reefs through dredging and landfill to build artificial islands. In addition, the capture of Chinese giant mollusks damaged about 16 353 acres of coral reefs, according to the report.
Much of the Chinese construction focused on Paracel and Spratly Islands, and China did not build any installation in the Scarborough Recife, according to CSIS.
The Philippines also accused the obscure Chinese sea militia to destroy coral reefs in the southern China Sea. China rejected the accusation and accused the Philippines of damaging the coral reef ecosystem on the waterway.
