China Says Philippine Ships Try To Enter Their Waters And Act In Accordance With The Law

China's coast guard ship in the waters of Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea (Source: China Coast Guard)

JAKARTA - China acted according to the law as Philippine ships tried to enter the waters of Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal or Bajo De Masinloc) which was disputed by the two countries on Wednesday.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila in a post on Twitter tweeted that four Philippine vessels attempted to enter Chinese territorial waters off the coast of Huangyan Dao on Wednesday.

"The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) is acting according to the law to control the situation," CCG said, tweeted the embassy on Twitter as quoted December 4.

The embassy also wrote, Liu Dejun, a CCG spokesman, said four coast guard vessels and an official Philippine ship were trying to enter China's territorial waters off the coast of Huangyan Dao and approach Chinese law enforcement patrol boats in a dangerous manner.

China acts lawfully as Philippine vessels attempt to intrude into Huangyan Dao waters

Four Philippine vessels attempted to intrude into Chinese territorial waters off Huangyan Dao on Wednesday and the China Coast Guard (CCG) acted lawfully to control the situation, the CCG…

— ChineseEmbassyManila (@Chinaembmanila) December 4, 2024

China acts lawfully as Philippine vessel attempt to intrude into Huangyan Dao waters

Four Philippine pulsed to intrude into Chinese territorial waters off Huangyan Dao on Wednesday and the China Coast Guard (CCG) acted lawfully to control the situation, the CCG...

Separately, a spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Jay Tarriela responded in a post on Twitter that the People's Republic of China does not have jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc, which is classified as a rock based on the 2016 Arbitration Decision and Article 121 of UNCLOS.

"The Philippines has its sovereignty, including its territorial sea. Waters beyond the territorial sea of Bajo de Masinloc as far as 12 nautical miles are within the Philippine EEZ, measured from the baseline of Luzon," he tweeted.

"As a result, PCG and BFAR ships are legally patrolling our waters, while China, which violates borders and militarizes the region by deploying PLA Navy ships to overshadow PCG operations. Dangerous maneuvers and disturbances of water cannons by CCG are not standard law enforcement actions; on the contrary, it must be interpreted as aggression that violates the law by violators of international law," he explained.

The People's Republic of China has no jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc, which is classified as a rock under the 2016 Arbitral Award and Article 121 of UNCLOS. The Philippines has sovereignty over it, including its territorial sea. The waters beyond Bajo de Masinloc's… https://t.co/cuItA3lcQd pic.twitter.com/I8WvHk0rJN

— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) December 4, 2024

The People's Republic of China has no jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc, which is classified as a rock under the 2016 Arbitral Award and Article 121 of UNCLOS. The Philippines has sovereignty over it, including its territorial sea. The waters beyond Bajo de Masinloc's… https://t.co/cuItA3lcQd pic.twitter.com/I8WvHk0rJN

As previously reported, PCG said Chinese naval vessels and coast guard had taken "aggressive measures" against routine patrols carried out with fishing and maritime bureaus near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Bajo De Masinloc or Huangyan Dao) in the South China Sea.

Jay Tarriela said PCG together with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) carry out routine maritime patrols around Bajo De Masinloc to support Filipino fishermen who actively catch fish in the area.

"During this operation, our ship faced aggressive action from several Chinese Coast Guard vessels, particularly CCG 5303, 3302, 3104, 3304, as well as Indonesian Liberation Navy ships with bow numbers 500 and 571," he tweeted.

It is known that tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have increased throughout the year, particularly at Scarborough Shoal, the main fishing area, quoted by Reuters.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea with the so-called nine line-dash lines, which overlap with the exclusive economic zones of other plaintiffs, namely Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

The 2016 arbitration court's decision, which Beijing does not recognize, overturned China's claim to the strategic waters.