Philippine president angers China with new laws to demarcate South China
Sea territories
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[November 08, 2024]
By JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
signed two laws on Friday reaffirming the extent of his country’s
maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South
China Sea, angering China, which claims the hotly disputed waterway
almost in its entirety.
China’s foreign ministry said it summoned the Philippines ambassador to
China to lodge a “stern protest." The ministry condemned the move as an
attempt to “solidify the illegal ruling of the South China Sea
arbitration case through domestic legislation.”
Confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval
forces in the disputed sea passage have spiked alarmingly since last
year. That has sparked fears that the United States — Manila’s longtime
treaty ally — may get drawn in a major conflict.
The laws, called the Philippine Maritime Zones act and the Philippine
Archipelagic Sea Lanes act, were signed by Marcos in a nationally
televised ceremony attended by top military and national security
officials. They further cement Manila’s rejection of China’s claims to
virtually the entire sea passage, and stipulate jail terms and stiff
fines for violators.
“These signal our resolve to protect our maritime resources, preserve
our rich biodiversity and ensure that our waters remain a source of life
and livelihood for all Filipinos,” Marcos said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the move “seriously
infringes on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and
interests in the South China Sea.”
“China strongly condemns and firmly opposes it," she said.
In a new national map it released last year the Chinese government
demarcated its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea with vague
dash lines that drew protests and rejections from rival coastal states
and government, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia and the
Philippines.
The maritime zones act demarcates key parts of the Philippine
archipelago’s territory and outlying waters where it has full
sovereignty and sovereign rights under international law and the 1982
U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Philippine officials said.
Those zones include the country's Exclusive Economic Zone, a
200-nautical-mile (370-kilometer) stretch of water, where a coastal
state like the Philippines has exclusive rights to tap energy and other
resources. Foreign ships and aircraft have an internationally recognized
right known as “innocent passage” to pass through such a zone, as long
as the coastal state’s security would not come under threat.
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In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications
Office, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., center, holds a
document beside Senate President Francis Escudero, left, and House
Speaker Martin Romualdez, right, during the ceremonial signing of
the Philippine Maritime Zones and Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes
Act, at the Malacanang presidential palace, in Manila, Philippines,
Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office
via AP)
The archipelagic sea lanes act allows the Philippines to designate
sea lanes and air routes in the archipelago where foreign ships and
aircraft could transit under its regulation and in compliance with
international law.
“These legal instruments solidify our territory and enhances our
ability to protect our country against any infringement,” National
Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said.
Marcos said the laws comply with international law and the UNCLOS,
but many of their provisions stand in stark contrast to Beijing’s
claims in the South China Sea and would likely be rejected and
defied by China.
It’s unclear how the Philippines could enforce the laws, which take
effect 15 days after their publication in the government’s official
gazette or in a newspaper, given China's increasingly aggressive
actions to push its claims.
Copies of the laws signed by Marcos were not immediately available
but a final version of the maritime zones bill stated that “all
artificial islands constructed within the Philippine EEZ belong to
the Philippine government.”
China has transformed seven disputed reefs into what are now
missile-protected island bases, including the Mischief Reef, which
lies within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.
The law based the Philippines’ maritime rights on UNCLOS, Philippine
laws and a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated
China’s extensive territorial claims based on historical grounds.
China refused to participate in that arbitration, rejected the
ruling and continues to defy it. Its massive coast guard, navy, air
force and suspected militia fleets have used water cannons, military
grade lasers and dangerous sea and air maneuvers to intimidate rival
forces it accuses of straying into what Beijing calls its territory.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the
Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces,
aircraft or ships come under an armed attack in the disputed waters.
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