China to set up nature reserve at a flashpoint shoal in the South China Sea

China has approved plans to establish a national nature reserve at a hotly contested shoal in the South China Sea, an unprecedented move that could further stoke tensions with rival claimant the Philippines.

The reserve will cover more than 3,500 hectares at Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal, with its coral reef ecosystem as the main protection target, according to China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The decision marks a new step in China’s effort to reinforce its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, a strategic, resource-rich waterway through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade transits.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including features hundreds of miles from its mainland, despite a 2016 international ruli