China has approved the construction of a marine environmental observation station to monitor an area that includes the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a persistent flashpoint in tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea. The Zhongsha Islands Marine Ecological and Environmental Field Observation and Research Station, proposed by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was given the green light on July 31, the SCSIO announced on Tuesday. The...