US says China's Scarborough Shoal claim 'destabilizing' region

Cam Kettles, Bloomberg News on Aug 8, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. accused China on Saturday of using “dubious” pretexts to press its disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea by enforcing a nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal and barring Filipino fishermen from entering the contested waters.

Violent clashes between China’s coast guard and Philippine fishing vessels had already escalated before China announced new rules for the area’s management last week that prohibit fishing and mining without previous approval, according to the Xinhua news agency.

China took effective control of the area in 2012 following a standoff with the Philippines over the shoal, located less than 150 miles (241.4 kilometers) off the Philippine coast. The Filipino government continues to claim the area as its own territory.

“This is yet another unilateral attempt by China to use dubious environmental and legal pretexts, backed by coercion, to advance its sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott in a statement, calling China’s enforcement of the nature reserve “destabilizing” for the broader Indo-Pacific region.

China’s rules were published after multiple clashes between Filipino vessels and the Chinese coast guard in July. The Philippine coast guard said on July 24 that its Chinese counterpart used water cannons against Filipino coast guard and fisheries bureau vessels at Scarborough Shoal.

The U.S. has opposed the creation of the Chinese reserve since its inception in September, lending support to the Philippines in a bid to check Beijing’s growing influence in the region. Beijing has created man-made islands and put up buildings in contested waters in a bid to assert its sweeping claims over the South China Sea.