CHINA WATCHPhilippines Bolsters Maritime Claims Despite China Pressure

By Tommy Walker

China is likely to continue its aggressive naval approach toward the Philippines amid their disputes in the South China Sea, experts say.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed two new maritime laws to protect Manila’s disputed territory: the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act.

According to the Philippines Presidential Office, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act “seeks to designate the country’s archipelagic sea lanes, which would create routes over the country’s water and airspace.”

The act also “declares the Philippines’ maritime zones in accordance with the standards set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act establishes a system of archipelagic sea lanes and air routes, through which foreign vessels and aircraft shall exercise the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage.”

Raymond Powell, director of Sealight at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, says the introduction of the laws is necessary for Manila’s long-term strategy of resistance against Beijing.

“Passage of the Philippines’ new maritime laws is a necessary step in its lawfare against China’s maritime aggression, which has reached the scale of an occupation of large swaths of the West Philippine Sea,” Powell told VOA. Lawfare is a name given to using political and judicial action in a dispute.

Malaysia is also protesting the Philippines new maritime laws. Malaysia’s deputy foreign minister, Mohamad Alamin, says the laws touch upon Malaysia’s overlapping claims of territory that borders Sabah on Borneo Island.

But it’s China that claims almost all of the South China Sea under its nine-dash line designating its territory.

In 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China’s claims have no legal basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China has long ignored that ruling. Beijing and the Philippines both claim the Second Thomas Shoal of the Spratly Islands, which China calls the Nansha Islands. The Scarborough Shoal, or Huangyan Island, is also contested between the two countries. Beijing seized the island in 2012.

In recent years, the overlapping claims escalated when Philippine vessels faced aggressive encounters from Chinese ships while operating in the contested waters.

Powell said Manila’s signing of maritime laws is part of a long-term strategy.