Manila urged to revisit 2016 ruling as China pushes 'nature reserve'

ANALYSTS are calling on the Philippine government to seek a review of the 2016 Hague arbitral ruling on the South China Sea, amid China’s plans to set up a “marine nature reserve” at Scarborough Shoal — one of the most volatile flashpoints in the maritime dispute between the two nations.

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While the landmark 2016 ruling by the United Nations-backed tribunal voided China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claim, it stopped short of deciding ownership of specific maritime features such as Scarborough Shoal, which lies just 222 kilometers off the coast of Luzon but almost 900 kilometers from China’s Hainan Island.

Last week, Beijing approved the creation of a reserve covering more than 3,500 hectares at the shoal, with its coral reef ecosystem cited as the primary focus of conservation. However, Manila quickly filed a diplomatic protest, warning that the move is a thinly veiled effort to consolidate Chinese control over the atoll.