China lodges protest as Philippines implements 2 new laws targeting disputed waters

ISTANBUL

China on Friday rushed to lodge a protest with Manila after the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law two new bills targeted at the disputed South China Sea, where the two maritime neighbors have overlapping claims.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing summoned the Filipino ambassador to lodge "solemn representations" against the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, signed into law early Friday.

The laws aim to reinforce Manila's entitlement and responsibility within its maritime zones which it refers to as the West Philippines Sea, a statement from the office of Marcos said.

It said the laws seek to designate the country’s archipelagic sea lanes, which would create routes through the country’s waters and airspace.

Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act are “significant laws that emphasize the importance of our maritime and archipelagic identity,” said Marcos.

However, Beijing said the laws "illegally include China's Huangyan Dao, most of Nansha Islands and related waters into the maritime zone of the Philippines."

It seeks to "solidify the illegal award of the South China Sea Arbitration in the form of domestic legislation. (The) move seriously infringes on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea, which China strongly condemns and resolutely opposes," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.

Through the new laws, Marcos said, the Philippines had aligned its domestic laws with international law, specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

Expressing hope that the laws would allow Manila to continue to defend its territory, Marcos said: “It is my fervent hope that with the help of these two laws, we will continue to pursue and defend our maritime interests.”

The Philippines and China have overlapping claims in the warm waters of the resource-rich vast water body which Beijing claims almost all of it.

Meanwhile, the China Coast Guard (CCG) Friday conducted a patrol “within” its territorial waters off the Diaoyu Islands.

The islets known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan are controlled by Tokyo.

The CCG said the patrol in vessel formation 1303 was carried out “according to law to protect rights, without providing further details