By Yang Xiao
Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. has officially signed the Philippine Maritime Zones (PMZ) Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes (PASL) Act. These two acts seriously violate international laws, including the Charter of the United Nations (UN Charter) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This not only contravenes the Philippines' commitments, undermines regional peace and stability, exacerbates tensions, but also inflicts damage upon the Philippines' interests. Consequently, the two acts will also cause multiple harm to regional partners while weakening regional peace and stability.
The Philippine authorities have persistently attempted to unlawfully incorporate China's Huangyan Dao and Nansha Qundao, as well as the related waters, into their maritime areas to achieve the purpose of maritime expansion. This seriously infringes upon China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. Article 2 of the PMZ Act seeks to exploit international law to endorse its territorial expansion ambitions and illegal behaviors. The logic behind this act aims to encroach upon China's territorial sovereignty over the South China Sea islands based on the maritime jurisdiction granted by the UNCLOS.
In the current context, countries surrounding the South China Sea are seeking peaceful coexistence and development with China. Unfortunately, the Philippines has manipulated the PMZ and PASL acts in a manner that inflicts widespread harm on neighboring countries, including China. This situation has resulted in multiple harm to regional peace and tranquility.
The PMZ and PASL acts contravene Article 5 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which reads, "The Parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability." This not only hampers dispute resolution efforts but also exacerbates conflicts and tensions in the South China Sea.
The PASL Act links the right of sea passage with the South China Sea dispute, restricting the legitimate right of passage of ships and aircraft of other countries. It is clearly contrary to the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS and undermines the legitimate rights and interests of other shipping countries. These designated sea lanes are all in close proximity to US military bases in the Philippines. Other countries have every reason to suspect that the Philippines is colluding with its allies outside the region to monitor ships and threaten the navigation safety of other countries.
The two maritime acts fully reflect that the Philippines is seeking to expand its power and interests in the name of international law, affecting the freedom and safety of navigation in the South China Sea and threatening regional peace and stability. This will inevitably lead to widespread dissatisfaction among regional countries and the international community.
The Philippines cannot use the implementation of the UNCLOS as an excuse to solidify the illegal ruling of the so-called South China Sea Arbitration while using domestic law to exceed the scope of authorization of international law and unlawfully restrict legitimate rights of other countries. This is a gross violation of the basic principles of international law. Such activities not only lack support from international legal frameworks including the UN Charter but also maliciously distort basic tenets governing maritime law internationally, thereby posing serious threats to regional peace and stability. The two maritime acts hold no binding effect on any other nation, including China. Chinese vessels will continue traversing relevant waters and waterways in accordance with the international law.
(The author is an expert on maritime issues at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
