China does not have any rights to Ayungin Shoal, Bajo de Masinloc

Jaime S. Bautista

Despite not having any rights to Ayungin Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc, China escalates its aggression there.

IN the past weeks, the China Coast Guard has attacked Philippine ships hundreds of miles away from China’s coast in its mainland.

China’s aggression has been taking place in Ayungin Shoal, which is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf. Before the arbitral award, China could claim rights to Ayungin Shoalin in good faith, but not anymore. The arbitral award is final and not subject to appeal.

China has also been committing aggression in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), which China wrested from the Philippines by superior force, although no blood was spilled. Bajo de Masinloc is inside the Philippines’ EEZ.

The Philippines acquired sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc since Spanish times. China was never in possession of Bajo de Masinloc and cannot acquire sovereignty over it by virtue of its unlawful occupation. Neither does China have any sovereign rights over Bajo de Masinloc. The arbitral award ruled that no land features in the Spratlys are entitled to an EEZ or continental shelf.

China refused to litigate disputes

The Philippines had offered to take the dispute over Bajo de Masinloc to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but China refused. Without China’s consent, the Philippines could not file the case.

As the International Court of Justice could not acquire jurisdiction over the dispute, the Philippines filed the arbitration case pursuant to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), which both China and the Philippines signed and ratified. Unclos offered another peaceful remedy to address the Philippines’ grievances. However, China has refused to recognize the compulsory procedure for settling disputes under Unclos. By ratifying this Convention, China gave its prior consent to the compulsory procedure.

The filing of the arbitration case offered a means to protect the rights of Filipino fishermen engaged in traditional fishing in Bajo de Masinloc, apart from addressing China’s aggression in the Philippines’ EEZ and continental shelf and protecting marine biodiversity and food security for the benefit of everyone, including the Chinese people, against Chinese land reclamations.

The Philippines excluded the issue of sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc in the Unclos arbitration because the Unclos tribunal has no jurisdiction over this dispute. Unclos determines the rights of states to maritime zones of the world’s oceans and seas, but not over territorial disputes.

China escalating tension

With more and more countries openly supporting the arbitral award, China’s response is more bullying. The threat is that the Philippines will pay dearly because the United States allegedly is an unreliable ally, and the United States does not have the staying power as most recently demonstrated by the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, the Philippines is resilient because it faces extinction as an independent country.

The China Coast Guard, assisted by Chinese Maritime Militia vessels, has intensified its harassment of Philippine vessels on patrol in Ayungin Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc, but China has no rights there whatsoever. China has no excuse for its aggression.

On April 30, 2024, the China Coast Guard targeted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) smaller vessels with high-pressure water cannoning, causing damage to both Philippine vessels. These were on a patrol mission to bring humanitarian assistance to Filipino fishermen in need of food, water and other supplies. China had re-installed a floating barricade at the mouth of Bajo de Masinloc to prevent Filipino fishermen, who are struggling to make a living, from entering the shoal. The shoal is their source of fresh water.

Earlier, on March 3, 2024, the China Coast Guard had also used water cannons against a supply ship hired by the Philippine government to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal. The Philippines protested the cannoning as “irresponsible and provocative.” The water cannons caused significant damage to the supply ship as well as injury to four persons in the vessel. The China Coast Guard admitted it had taken measures against the supply ship.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has described China Coast Guard and the Chinese Maritime Militia tactics as consisting of “harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannoning and other aggressive actions.” These unlawful actions violate the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ and continental shelf and have the serious risk of sinking a vessel and/or causing the loss of lives. These could have unwanted, dangerous military and political ramifications.

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) witnessed China’s latest aggression at Bajo de Masinloc. The Philippines has demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately.

Ambassador Jaime S. Bautista (ret.) is the chairman of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and the president of the Philippine Ambassadors’ Foundation Inc.