US slams Chinese ‘nature reserve’ as effort to claim South China Sea

What the report says

The United States has criticized China’s plan to create a “national nature reserve” around Scarborough Reef in the South China Sea, saying the move is another attempt to tighten control over a disputed area and limit Filipino fishermen’s access to traditional fishing grounds. According to Al Jazeera, the US State Department made the statement on Saturday and framed the Chinese proposal as part of broader efforts to advance territorial and maritime claims in the region.

Scarborough Reef, near Luzon in the Philippines, is one of the most sensitive flashpoints in the long-running dispute between Beijing and Manila. The article says both countries claim the area, and it noted that tensions have risen in recent weeks after Chinese ships used water cannon against Filipino fishing or resupply vessels near the shoal. The US said it stands with the Philippines and supports a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Al Jazeera also reported that the Philippines has pursued the dispute through international arbitration in The Hague, where China’s expansive claims were largely rejected under maritime law, although Beijing did not take part in the case. China has continued to assert its position through the so-called nine-dash line and by increasing its presence in contested waters.

The dispute matters because the South China Sea is a major shipping route and a strategically important military zone, with trillions of dollars in trade passing through it each year. The report places the latest US criticism within a wider pattern of American backing for regional allies amid rising Sino-Philippine tensions.