China Rejects Philippine Baselines Around Scarborough Shoal

China's foreign ministry on Friday said it firmly opposed and would never accept the Philippines' establishment of "baselines" around Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, calling the move "illegal and invalid" and a serious violation of China's territorial sovereignty. Scarborough Shoal, known in China as Huangyan Dao and in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, is claimed by both countries. Manila earlier this week deposited its official nautical chart of Scarborough Shoal with the United Nations, a move it said reinforces the legal certainty of its maritime entitlements under international law. The chart depicts the normal baselines of Scarborough and the outer limits of its 12-nautical-mile territorial sea and 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday. "Huangyan Dao is China's inherent territory," China's foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the Philippines' territorial scope has been determined by a series of international treaties and the shoal has never been among them. The ministry reiterated Beijing's rejection of a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its sweeping South China Sea claims and accused Manila of provoking tensions around Scarborough Shoal, where the two countries' coast guard and fishing vessels have repeatedly clashed in recent years. "China demands that the Philippine side earnestly respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and refrain from taking any infringing and provocative actions on Huangyan Dao. Otherwise, China will respond resolutely," the statement said. The Philippine Embassy in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, during his State of the Nation Address, vowed to use all peaceful and legal means available to uphold the landmark 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims over nearly the entire South China Sea. Marcos said the 2016 arbitral ruling was not merely a claim that his administration “advances alone, nor one that we will abandon.” “Your government will do all that is necessary to continue upholding this Award, utilizing every peaceful and legal means available to the Republic against any attempt, foreign or domestic, to undermine this achievement,” he stressed. —Reuters/KG, GMA News