By Adrian H. Halili and Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporters

THE PHILIPPINES on Thursday rejected China’s plan to set up a national nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal, saying it is “patently illegal.”

In a statement, National Security Adviser Eduardo M. Año said the plan is a strategic move to project greater control over the rocky atoll, a prime fishing patch located within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile (370 kilometers) exclusive economic zone.

“This move by the People’s Republic of China is less about protecting the environment and more about justifying its control over a maritime feature that is part of the territory of the Philippines,” he said.

“It is a clear pretext towards eventual occupation,” he added.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

Mr. Año said the plan violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 arbitral ruling by a United Nations-backed tribunal and the 2022 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in a separate statement said it would file a formal diplomatic protest against the plan.

“The Philippines will be issuing a formal diplomatic protest against this illegitimate and unlawful action by China as it clearly infringes upon the rights and interests of the Philippines in accordance with international law,” the agency said in a statement.

Beijing recently approved the creation of the reserve at Scarborough Shoal — which Manila calls Bajo de Masinloc — one of the most contested areas in the South China Sea.

China’s State Council said the nature reserve is an important measure to maintain the “diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem” of the maritime feature.

The reserve will cover more than 3,500 hectares at Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal, with its coral reef ecosystem as the main protection target, according to China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The DFA said it “strongly protests” the move, stressing that the shoal is “a long-standing and integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction.”

“The Philippines likewise has the exclusive authority to establish environmental protection areas over its territory and relevant maritime zones,” it said. “Refrain from enforcing and immediately withdraw its State Council issuance and comply with its obligations under international law.”

Scarborough Shoal, located about 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers) off Zambales province, has been under de facto Chinese control since 2012.

In 2016, a Hague-based arbitral tribunal voided China’s sweeping South China Sea claims, but Beijing has ignored the ruling.

The South China Sea has become a regional flashpoint as China continues to assert its sweeping claim over almost the entire sea, a vital global trade route that is also believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.

‘EFFECTIVE PUSHBACK’
Manila and Beijing have repeatedly locked horns over maritime features that both nations claim in the disputed waters, including Scarborough Shoal. The atoll lies about 222 kilometers west of Luzon Island and is nearly 900 kilometers away from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass.

Access to Scarborough has been restricted after China seized control of the atoll in 2012 following a standoff with Philippine forces.

The Philippines brought its dispute over the contested shoal to a UN-backed tribunal in 2013, which ruled in 2016 that China had interfered with Filipino fishermen’s access to the area.

But sovereignty over the rocky atoll remains unresolved as the ruling did not assign ownership despite voiding China’s expansive South China Sea claims.

The Philippines should strongly respond to China’s plan to put up a national nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal, according to analysts, warning that the move could undermine Manila’s posture in the South China Sea.

They said Beijing is likely testing Manila’s resolve in asserting its claim over the region, and a weak response could embolden China to push similar assertions over other contested maritime features.

“China will likely want to see what the response will be from the Philippines,” Julio S. Amador III, chief executive officer at Manila-based geopolitical risk firm Amador Research Services, said in a Viber message.

“If it sees that there is no effective pushback, then there is a strong possibility that it will try to do the same over other features,” he said.

The Philippines should establish a consistent presence in the shoal amid Beijing’s plan to establish a nature reserve, Sherwin E. Ona, a security analyst and political science associate professor at De La Salle University, said in a Viber message.

“I will not be surprised if China builds structures in Bajo de Masinloc, claiming it to be a fishing sanctuary,” he said.

“We could summon the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines to discuss and shed light upon the matter,” Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a diplomacy instructor at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde’s School of Diplomacy and Governance, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

The Philippine delegation may also raise China’s reserve plan to both the nation’s bilateral consultation mechanism as it presents challenges to Manila’s sovereignty if enacted, he added.

The bilateral consultation mechanism was established in 2017 amid disputes in the waters where trillions worth of shipborne trade passes through annually.

“If left unaddressed, this may be problematic as to how our two countries will move forward,” said Mr. Cortez.

China’s reserve plan may also stoke further tension in the contested shoal, said Chester B. Cabalza, founding president at Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation.

“It would make Scarborough a flashpoint area, escalating more chaos with anticipated restriction of access and deprivation of resources,” he said via Messenger chat.