Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Wednesday said the Philippines will not recognize China’s new regulation allowing its Coast Guard to detain alleged trespassers over waters which it claims jurisdiction.
“They could make the announcement, but we don’t recognize this,” Manalo said during a reception with Philippine media.
This follows reports from Chinese media that Beijing adopted a measure permitting the Chinese Coast Guard to interrogate and detain for up to 60 days foreigners accused of illegally passing its waters.
Manalo further described China’s new regulation as “unacceptable” and with “no legal basis.”
“And what’s even more worrying is that it doesn’t only affect the Philippines. It will affect every country in the world, theoretically,” he said.
Manalo added that in light of “many issues that have come up recently,” the current relationship between the Philippines and China is “a bit choppy.”
Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Secretary said the Philippines’ efforts to assert its sovereignty over the waters, as based on international law, is being “hampered” and thus resulting in tension.
China last week released a 92-page document entitled “Procedural Regulations on Administrative Law Enforcement of Coast Guard Agencies.”
It continues to assert its dominance over the South China Sea, including a portion of the country’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea, which was already ruled as illegal by a United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in an arbitral ruling rendered in 2016.