MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday, November 13, that it summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian to protest China’s newly-released baselines around Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal.
“The Department summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian earlier today to deliver the Philippines’ protest over China’s drawing of baselines around Bajo de Masinloc on 10 November 2024,” said DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza in a statement to reporters.
“The said baselines infringe upon Philippine sovereignty and contravene international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award. The said baselines have no legal basis and are not binding on the Philippines,” she added.
Manila’s protest is the latest in a series of exchanges between the Philippines and China over newly-signed Philippine laws that operationalize the 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea.
The Philippine Maritime Zones Act defines the limits of the country’s maritime entitlements based on international law while the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act designates the three sea lanes through which vessels and aircraft should use if they want to sail or fly through the Philippines.
Beijing had earlier summoned Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz the same day the laws were signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday, November 8.
Days later, on November 10, China released a baseline of “territorial waters” around Scarborough Shoal, which it calls Huangyan Island.
Scarborough Shoal is among the flashpoints of tensions between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The China Coast Guard (CCG) has routinely used water cannons against Philippine vessels to drive them away from the shoal.
China has had control of Scarborough, a high-tide elevation feature, following a tense stand-off with the Philippines in 2012.
Since it is a high-tide elevation, Scarborough Shoal generates its own 12-nautical mile territorial waters. The 2016 arbitral award did not decide on who has sovereignty over the shoal, since it is beyond the tribunal’s mandate. It was deemed, however, as the traditional fishing ground for Filipinos, Vietnamese, and Chinese fisherfolk — which means their access should not be impaired.
China’s control of the sole entry to the shoal has meant that Filipino fisherfolk are unable to fish or seek shelter inside the lagoon’s calmer waters. – Rappler.com