MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines is closely watching China’s actions after Beijing said it would establish a nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Philippines’ Armed Forces Chief General Romeo Brawner said on Friday.
Manila has called China’s plans for a reserve at the shoal a “clear pretext for occupation”, and Brawner said it was important that there was not a repeat of what had happened at Mischief Reef.
The Philippines claims Mischief Reef, which is within its Exclusive Economic Zone in the South China Sea, but China occupied in the 1990s and has since built a military base on it.
Last month, China announced it had approved the creation of a national nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal, saying it was an “important guarantee” to preserve the atoll’s ecosystem.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by John Mair)
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