According to the US, Beijing uses dubious environmental excuses to justify its territorial claims.
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The Scarborough Shoal is a fish-rich reef located 240 kilometers from the main Philippine island of Luzon and hundreds of kilometers from mainland China. Both Beijing and Manila claim this hot coral atoll.
“The United States rejects China’s ongoing attempts to establish a destabilizing ‘national nature reserve’ on the Scarborough Shoal and to prohibit Filipino fishermen from accessing traditional fishing grounds,” said State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
“This is another unilateral Chinese attempt, using dubious environmental and legal pretexts and coercion, to expand its broad territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors,” the statement from T. Pigott said.
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China recently announced new rules for managing the nature reserve it unilaterally established last year around the shoal controlled by Beijing.
China claims most of the South China Sea, including this hot shoal, despite an international arbitration ruling that its position has no legal basis.
China and the Philippines are in constant conflict over disputed territories. The latest incidents occurred last month.
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