Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, China lodges 'stern protest'

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday signed two new laws that reaffirm the country’s maritime territories and its right to access resources, including in the South China Sea.

These laws directly challenge Beijing’s broad territorial claims in the region.

The move angered Beijing, prompting China’s foreign ministry to summon the Philippine ambassador to China and issue a “stern protest.”

The Maritime Zones law “illegally includes most of China’s Huangyan Island and Nansha Islands and related maritime areas in the Philippines’ maritime zones,” Reuters quoted Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning as saying, using the Chinese names for Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands respectively.

China has consistently rejected a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which declared its expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea to be without legal foundation. The case was brought by the Philippines, and the United States, a close ally of Manila, supports the court’s decision.

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Tensions between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in the disputed waters of the South China Sea have sharply escalated since last year, raising concerns that the United States —Manila’s long-time treaty ally — could be drawn into a larger conflict.

The Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, signed by President Marcos during a nationally televised ceremony attended by top military and security officials, solidify Manila’s rejection of China’s sweeping claims over nearly the entire sea passage. The new laws impose harsh penalties, including prison sentences and heavy 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,” The Associated Press quoted Marcos as saying.

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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 UN 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 recognised right known as “innocent passage” to pass through such a zone, as long as the coastal state’s security would not come under threat.

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.

With inputs from agencies