‘Dubious pretexts’: US slams Chinese actions in South China Sea
The State Department said China is using a unilateral reserve and environmental pretexts to strengthen maritime claims and restrict Filipino fishermen.
- On Saturday, the United States accused China of "destabilising" activity near Scarborough Shoal, with State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott dismissing the "national nature reserve" as "dubious" environmental pretext to deny Filipino fishermen access.
- China issued new management rules on August 1 regulating the "national nature reserve" it established in September 2025, coordinating four agencies including the China Coast Guard to enforce control over the disputed area.
- Situated 240km from Luzon, Scarborough Shoal anchors a strategic trade corridor worth more than $3 trillion annually; both China and the Philippines claim the reef as sovereign territory, deepening the dispute.
- The 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award dismissed China's "nine-dash line" as unlawful under international maritime law, though Beijing rejects the ruling; the United States reaffirms it "stands with our Ally, the Philippines, in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific."
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the use of water cannons against Filipino vessels, citing China's increasingly assertive maneuvers as tensions flare in recent weeks across the South China Sea.
38 Articles
38 Articles
State Department condemns new Chinese claim to disputed South China Sea shoal as ‘destabilizing’
New Chinese government controls over a disputed South China Sea reef are a "destabilizing activity" and legal claims that Beijing is protecting a nature reserve there are questionable, the State Department said in pushing back against China's expansive regional maritime claims.
View: The US and China are driven by their own insecurities
Andy’s viewIn the run-up to next month’s US-China presidential summit, another tit-for-tat trade spat is brewing.This time, the US has added advanced robotics — humanoid robots, quadruped robots (spindly-legged “robot dogs”) and robot lawn mowers — to an already long list of banned tech products dominated by China, and is reportedly preparing to block connected power inverters used in solar energy. Simmering in the background is a rancorous deba…
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