Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned China’s recently announced plan to establish a nature reserve on one of the most hotly contested shoals in the South China Sea, which rival claimant the Philippines has already protested.
The Chinese government approved a proposal on Wednesday to create a national nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal, which its National Forestry and Grassland Administration said would cover more than 3,500 hectares at Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for it.
Rubio came to the Philippines’ support on Friday, saying that Beijing’s actions “continue to undermine regional stability.”
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“The United States stands with our Philippine ally in rejecting China’s destabilizing plans to establish a ‘national nature reserve’ at Scarborough Reef,” Rubio said. “Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance
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