The United States has criticized China for engaging in destabilizing activities near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea (referred to as Huangyan Island by China), accusing Beijing of using “dubious environmental explanations” to advance its territorial claims.
According to AFP, US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Saturday (August 8) that the US opposes China’s continued efforts to forcibly establish a destabilizing ‘national nature reserve’ at Scarborough Shoal and to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering traditional fishing grounds.
In his statement, Pigott said: “This is yet another instance of China advancing its extensive territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea, to the detriment of its neighbors, by unilaterally acting under dubious environmental and legal pretexts backed by coercive measures.”
According to reports from Xinhua News Agency and CCTV News, on Saturday (August 1), China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China Coast Guard, and People’s Government of Hainan Province jointly issued the ‘Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve Management Measures,’ establishing a daily patrolling system in the reserve. On the same day, the PLA Southern Theater Command conducted joint exercises in the sea and airspace near Huangyan Island.