Philippine president angers China with new laws to demarcate South China Sea territories

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws on Friday reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, angering China, which claims the hotly disputed waterway almost in its entirety.

China’s foreign ministry said it summoned the Philippines ambassador to China to lodge a “stern protest." The ministry condemned the move as an attempt to “solidify the illegal ruling of the South China Sea arbitration case through domestic legislation.”

Confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in the disputed sea passage have spiked alarmingly since last year. That has sparked fears that the United States — Manila’s longtime treaty ally — may get drawn in a major conflict.

The laws, called the Philippine Maritime Zones act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes act, were signed by Marcos in a nationally televised ceremony attended by top military and national security officials. They further cement Manila’s rejection of China’s claims to virtually the entire sea passage, and stipulate jail terms and stiff 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,” Marcos said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the move “seriously infringes on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.”

“China strongly condemns and firmly opposes it," she said.

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 U.N. 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 recognized 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.