China and the South China Sea: Coercion under the Guise of ‘Nature Conservation’ is Unacceptable

Editorial

15:22 JST, October 4, 2025

China is attempting to strengthen its effective control in the South China Sea, where it disputes territorial rights with neighboring countries, using both hard and soft tactics. Its unilateral words and actions, which threaten the maritime order, are completely unacceptable.

The Chinese government announced last month that it had designated part of the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea as a “national-level nature reserve.” It called on relevant authorities to strengthen crackdowns on “illegal activities” to “protect ecological diversity.”

The Scarborough Shoal lies within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, yet China claims territorial rights and has maintained effective control over it since 2012.

Tensions have been rising in the surrounding waters, with China Coast Guard vessels firing water cannons at Philippine fishery patrol boats and ramming them. In August, Chinese military aircraft approached within about 60 meters of a Philippine aircraft on patrol in an act of intimidation.

The establishment of the nature reserve appears to be aimed at justifying coercive actions under the guise of “nature conservation” by reasserting that the waters are China’s own territory to which its legal system applies.

The Philippines protested to China, asserting that the Scarborough Shoal is an integral part of the area where the Philippines holds sovereignty and jurisdiction and demanded China revoke the reserve designation. The United States, for its part, issued a statement supporting the Philippines, stating it rejects plans that destabilize the region.

To begin with, China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea were completely rejected by the arbitration tribunal in The Hague in 2016 as having “no legal basis.”

However, despite being obligated to comply with the ruling, as a signatory to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, China has ignored it, shaking the maritime order based on the rule of law.

Moreover, it is excessively self-serving to unilaterally apply China’s domestic laws to these waters.

The South China Sea is an internationally vital maritime transport route. If China continues militarizing it, the negative impact will extend beyond the region and spread to the world. To prevent this, the United States, Japan, Australia and others must strengthen their cooperation with the Philippines to enhance deterrence against China.

At last month’s Japan-Philippines defense ministers’ meeting, the two sides confirmed the importance of multilateral cooperation involving the United States, Australia and others, in addition to bilateral cooperation. Furthermore, the U.S. and Philippine navies, along with the Maritime Self-Defense Force, conducted a joint exercise in the South China Sea.

China has also dispatched CCG vessels to the waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture under the pretext of maritime law enforcement, repeatedly entering Japan’s territorial waters. Japan should have deeper discussions with concerned countries on how to address China’s attempt to change the status quo through fait accompli tactics.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 4, 2025)