The United States is worried about the possibility of China declaring an exclusion zone in the South China Sea if it loses in a maritime arbitration case filed by Manila before an international court. Admiral John Richardson, chief of US naval operations, raised the scenario in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. Richardson said the US was weighing responses to such a move. The UN-backed arbitral court based in The Hague is expected to rule on the case in the coming weeks. He also said Chinese activity around Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, seized from the Philippines in 2012, could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year.

Katigbak, J. (2016, March 19). Chinese exclusion zone looms in Spratlys?. The Philippine Star, pp. 1, 6.