China imposes patrols and bans access to disputed Huangyan Dao shoal

China announced new management measures for the Huangyan Dao National Nature Reserve in the South China Sea. The rules, issued jointly by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the China Coast Guard and the Hainan provincial government, establish a routine patrol system and prohibit entry and activities such as fishing, mining, and coral extraction without prior approval. Violators will be held accountable under Chinese law.

At the same time, the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command carried out a joint naval‑air training exercise in the territorial sea and airspace around the shoal. The measures heighten the maritime dispute with the Philippines, which claims the shoal based on a 2016 international tribunal ruling that rejected China’s historic‑rights claim. The Philippines previously accused the Chinese Coast Guard of injuring a sailor at the Second Thomas Shoal, an allegation Beijing denied. Other claimants in the area include Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.