The Philippine government refused to recognize China’s latest map, which showed a new 10 dash line that still encompasses sections of the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone, and at the same time urged Beijing to abide by the international arbitral ruling on its maritime claims.
Aside from the Philippines, Malaysia and India also strongly opposed the inclusion of parts of their own territories in the new Chinese map.
“The Philippines rejects the 2023 version of China’s Standard Map issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China on Aug. 28, 2023, because of its inclusion of the nine-dashed line (now a 10-dashed line) that supposedly shows China’s boundaries in the South China Sea,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
“This latest attempt to legitimize China’s purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones has no basis under international law, particularly under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” it added.
The 2016 arbitral award invalidated China’s previous nine-dash line demarcation of its claim to nearly the entire South China Sea, the DFA said. That ruling is supported by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, South Korea, France, Germany, Austria, Australia, the Netherlands, and the European Union.
As expected, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the release of the map was a “routine practice” in exercising its “sovereignty in accordance with the law.”
The release of the map follows the harassment and use of a water cannon against Filipino vessels bringing supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre that was intentionally grounded at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in 199 to serve as one of the country’s military outposts in that part of the West Philippine Sea.
China demonstrated, in thought, word, and deed, that it intends to claim vast swathes of territory that it has no legal claim to. It has already built artificial islands, harassed fishermen and ships, deployed massive militia fleets in the area, all while ignoring international law whenever it is convenient for them. This new bogus map should not come as any surprise, but it should spur the aggrieved nations and the international community to push back with even more action and unity, as that may be the only language that the regional bully can understand.
As one of the most affected countries, it is incumbent upon the Philippines to spearhead that effort to make it as inconvenient as possible for China to assert its bogus and ridiculous claims on the sovereign territory of other nations. If China has its latest map, we should also have mapped out a strategy to counter each and every move it makes, now and in the future.*
