Overview

• An official State Council notice says the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will later publish the reserve’s boundaries and zones.
• Chinese law allows national nature reserves to include strictly protected core areas and buffer and experimental zones, with foreign visitors requiring approval.
• Scarborough Shoal, controlled by China but claimed by the Philippines, sits on key shipping routes and supports valuable fisheries and potential resources.
• Recent tensions include an August encounter near the shoal that led to a collision between Chinese vessels, as well as allied drills by the Philippines, Australia and Canada.
• Multiple outlets report the designation is seen as reinforcing Beijing’s claims and likely to heighten friction with Manila, which cites a 2016 arbitration ruling that China rejects.