PCG: China seeks ‘new order’ undermining rules-based maritime system

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has condemned China for imposing a “new order” in maritime areas outside its jurisdiction, undermining the rules-based international system.

PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tarriela, revealed on Sunday that the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) threatened to take “necessary measures” against the PCG’s vessel, BRP Cabra, if it refused to leave waters off Zambales.

CCG vessel 3103 was spotted operating illegally 93 nautical miles off the Zambales coast, well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“[T]heir threats against the legitimate presence of the Philippines conducting maritime patrols—warning that if we do not leave, they will take necessary measures and we will bear the consequences—clearly indicate China’s desire to impose a new order that undermines the rules-based international system,” Tarriela said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

He added that the CCG’s actions blatantly disregard international law, asserting jurisdiction over waters far beyond China's legal baseline.

“They appear intent on reverting to a system where might dictates what is deemed right, allowing powerful countries to impose their interests at the expense of others' rights and jurisdictions,” he added.

Tarriela stressed that anyone genuinely concerned with regional peace and stability would recognize the CCG’s presence in the Philippines’ EEZ as “barbaric and illegitimate.”

The PCG disclosed that on Saturday, the CCG-3103, accompanied by the so-called “monster ship” CCG-5901, harassed the BRP Cabra by using a long-range acoustic device (LRAD). The LRAD emits high-decibel sounds capable of causing severe pain and hearing damage, according to crew members.

The harassment comes amid a separate incident on Friday, where CCG and the People’s Liberation Army-Navy interfered with Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels near Sandy Cay in the West Philippine Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has vowed to file a diplomatic protest following these incidents.

The Philippines previously sued China at an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague, which ruled in 2016 that China’s nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea was invalid. Despite this, China has refused to comply with the ruling, dismissing it as "illegal and invalid."

GMA News Online has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Manila for comment and will update this story once a response is received. — DVM, GMA Integrated News