Embassy tells Manila not to worry about South China Sea coastguard licence to fire
- Beijing’s mission in the Philippines has moved to calm fears new legislation marks aggressive approach to maritime disputes
- Law is ‘domestic legislation’ and common to many countries, including the Philippines, embassy says
“China Coast Guard is an administrative law enforcement agency. The formulation of the coastguard law is a normal domestic legislative activity of China,” the embassy said on its Facebook account, late on Monday night.
“Enacting such a coastguard law is not unique to China, but a sovereign right to all,” the statement continued. “Many countries have enacted similar legislation. It was the Philippine coastguard law of 2009 that established the [Philippine Coast Guard] as an armed and uniformed service. None of these laws have been seen as a threat of war.”
The statement could be seen as Beijing’s latest attempt to ease tensions with its Southeast Asian neighbour. The two countries are locked in a complicated territorial dispute over parts of the strategically important South China Sea.
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The South China Sea dispute explained
The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest over the legislation, which foreign minister Teodoro Locsin called on Twitter “a verbal threat of war to any country that defies it”. The law has also heightened concerns in Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia that China could take a more aggressive approach in maritime disputes with its neighbours.