BEIJING (Reuters) – China rejected Philippine maritime claims on Sunday, saying the brand new laws “severely infringes” Beijing’s territorial sovereignty and rights within the South China Sea and vowing to guard its pursuits.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marco Jr signed two legal guidelines on Friday to outline the nation’s maritime rights and set up designated sea and air routes to strengthen sovereignty.
“China firmly opposes this and can proceed to take all needed measures in accordance with the regulation to resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and pursuits,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea, together with areas claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that its sweeping claims weren’t supported by worldwide regulation.
The United States, an ally of the Philippines, helps the courtroom’s ruling within the case introduced by Manila.
The Chinese ministry’s assertion on Sunday outlined a baseline of “territorial waters” across the Scarborough Shoal, which China claims as its territory and calls Huangyan Island. The shoal is a significant level of competition over sovereignty and fishing rights.
China has enacted home legal guidelines protecting the South China Sea, akin to a coast guard regulation in 2021 that permits it to detain foreigners suspected of trespassing.
With an armada of coast guard vessels to implement its claims, Beijing routinely accuses ships of trespassing into areas of the South China Sea that fall inside its neighbors’ unique financial zones, and has repeatedly clashed with its neighbors over the previous 12 months. Philippines.
China’s coast guard issued an announcement on Sunday saying the Philippines has continuously despatched warships and army and police plane to “intrude” into the waters and airspace close to the Scarborough Shoal. He accused Manila of instigating “unlawful fishing” within the space.
(Reporting by Ella Cao in Beijing and Marius Zaharia in Hong Kong; Editing by Tom Hogue and William Mallard)
