US rejects China’s new Scarborough Shoal reserve rules
Why it matters: Washington tied the move to Beijing’s bid to block Filipino fishermen from a contested fishing ground.
The United States on Aug. 8 rejected China’s new management rules for a nature reserve that Beijing created around Scarborough Shoal, calling the measure another step to press its claims in the South China Sea. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said China was using environmental and legal justifications, backed by coercion, to deny Filipino fishermen access to traditional fishing grounds near the disputed atoll. Scarborough Shoal lies about 240 kilometers from Luzon but far from mainland China. Beijing controls the shoal, though both China and the Philippines claim it. An international ruling has found no legal basis for China’s sweeping claim over most of the South China Sea.