DFA files 'strong, unequivocal' objection to China nature reserve plan
Philippine News Agency
By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
September 13, 2025, 9:42 am
MANILA -- The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) formally lodged a diplomatic protest to air its "strong and unequivocal" objection to China's plan to build a nature reserve at the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea.
"The department filed a protest yesterday, which is a strong, unequivocal and formal articulation of Philippine objections to the Chinese action," it said on Saturday.
As this developed, the United States government threw its support behind the Philippines and described the Chinese move as "destabilizing."
"The United States stands with our Philippine ally in rejecting China's destabilizing plans to establish a 'national nature reserve' at Scarborough Reef," US Department of State Secretary Marco Rubio said in a press statement.
"Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors, including by preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing these traditional fishing grounds."
Rubio pointed out that China's actions in the Scarborough Shoal "continue to undermine regional stability" and called on it to abide by the international law, including the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal's ruling, which Beijing had unlawfully prevented Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing in the feature.
The Chinese government publicized on Wednesday its State Council's "approval" of the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources' request to establish the reserve in the Scarborough Shoal, which it plans to call the Huangyan Dao National Nature Reserve.
Bajo de Masinloc is a longstanding and integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction.
It is located about 124 nautical miles from the nearest coast of Luzon and approximately 472 nautical miles from the nearest coast of China. (PNA)
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