China is seeking to substantiate its claim to a contentious reef in the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ), further escalating tensions with the U.S. ally.
Beijing claims nearly all such features in the South China Sea, frequently appealing to early 20th-century maps and historical records. An independent tribunal at The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected China’s “nine-dash line” claims in 2016, ruling they are incompatible with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
These claims include Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing grounds known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc and in China as Huangyan Island. After a 2012 standoff with the U.S.-allied Philippines, China seized de facto control of the atoll, located about 140 miles west of Luzon Island and 700 miles from China’s nearest province of Hainan.
Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines has stepped up efforts to challenge China’s sweeping claims, including at Scarborough Shoal, which has seen confrontations between Chinese maritime forces and Philippine government vessels deployed to support local fishermen.
New Baselines
China’s Foreign Ministry released a list of 16 base points connected by straight baselines, claiming they are in line with Chinese maritime laws.
Baselines delineate the waters a country claims full jurisdiction over. Extending 12 nautical miles (13 miles) beyond baselines are a country’s territorial waters, where foreign vessels are generally allowed the right of innocent passage.
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In a statement, the Chinese Coast Guard accused Manila of “territorial violations,” including of deploying military and Coast Guard assets to “intrude” and encouraging local fishing boats to “illegally” enter the shoal’s lagoon. It pledged to increase its patrols in the so-called “territorial waters” of the shoal.
Newsweek reached out to the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine armed forces, and Chinese Foreign Ministry with emailed requests for comment.
A “Birth Certificate of the West Philippine Sea”
China’s announcement came just two days after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, defining the country’s maritime boundaries.
“By passing these laws, we seek to bolster international recognition for the Philippines’ assertion of its territorial and maritime rights,” read a statement shared with local media by Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, the principal author of both acts. He called the legislation the “birth certificate of the West Philippine Sea,” a term the Philippines uses to describe parts of the South China Sea within its EEZ.
The U.S. State Department expressed support for the Philippine legislation, with spokesperson Matthew Miller calling it “a routine matter.” He added: “The United States values Philippine leadership in upholding international law, particularly in the South China Sea, and calls on all states to align their maritime claims with the international law of the sea as reflected in UNCLOS.”
“A Natural Step”
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the new Philippine laws, saying they aim “to further solidify the illegal arbitral award on the South China Sea in the form of domestic legislation.”
China’s new baselines are “a natural step … to lawfully strengthen marine management consistent with international law and common practices,” the ministry argued.
China’s South China Sea claims also overlap with those of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and Indonesia. However, it is the clashes with the Philippines have drawn the most attention, raising concerns over a potential miscalculation that could lead to conflict involving the U.S., which maintains a Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines.
In a recent interview on the SITREP podcast, Ray Powell, director of the Stanford University-affiliated maritime monitoring group Sealight, noted that the Philippines’ situation is more severe than those of other South China Sea claimants.
He argued that Beijing’s moves to ramp up force projection in waters around the Philippines through the Chinese Coast Guard, navy, and maritime militia—indicates an effort to “subdue all resistance.” Instead of reacting to individual incursions, Powell suggested that Manila should view the situation as “long-term nonviolent resistance against an occupying force.”
The 2016 Award
The Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, referred to as the West Philippine Sea, covers a 200-nautical-mile stretch from its coastline under UNCLOS, giving it exclusive rights to resources within this zone.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, its rubber-stamp legislature, reiterated its stance on the 2016 tribunal award favoring the Philippines, which China rejected and refused to participate in.
“The ad hoc arbitral tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration case exceeded its authority and arbitrarily adjudicated the award, and the award rendered was illegal and invalid,” the committee stated. “China does not accept or recognize the relevant award and does not accept any claims or actions based on the award.”
