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South China Sea: ‘reasonable’ for Asean nations to be worried about Beijing’s coastguard law
- SCMP’s China Conference: Southeast Asia hears of possibility of ‘dangerous encounters’ with China’s coastguard in region
- But one Chinese legal scholar said the law was ‘wrongly interpreted’ and does not violate international norms
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Kok Xinghuiin Singapore
Southeast Asian countries are rightfully worried about China’s recently enacted coastguard law given that the law heightens the possibility that Beijing’s maritime patrols will use force when they encounter regional counterparts in disputed waters, the South China Morning Post’s China Conference: Southeast Asia heard on Wednesday.
Speaking during a panel discussion on the first day of the virtual conference, Trang Pham, a lecturer in international law and the Law of the Sea at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, said China’s new law in effect expands its grip over the South China Sea and increases the possibility of “dangerous encounters” between its coastguard and the maritime patrol forces of Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and even the United States.
“I think other countries have reasonable worries about the law,” she said.
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Her views were echoed by other panellists, although a prominent Chinese scholar on the Law of the Sea, Wu Shicun, argued that the law – passed by the National People’s Congress in January – was neither against international law nor beyond the current legal reach of similar laws by other countries.
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Diaoyu-Senkaku islands spat deepens as Japan warns China over coastguard ships in East China Sea
Diaoyu-Senkaku islands spat deepens as Japan warns China over coastguard ships in East China Sea
Pham, who is also a research scholar at the US-Asia Law Institute, said her alarm arose from reading the actual language of the law.
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