PH hits China bid to set a 'new order' in West Philippine Sea

MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official criticized China for its attempt to impose a “new order” in the West Philippine Sea.

PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tarriela, slammed the China Coast Guard (CCG), whose vessel has been illegally operating off Zambales province, for threatening a Philippine ship that they would “take necessary measures” if it won't leave the area.

For him, China's threat indicates its “desire to impose a new order that undermines the rules-based international system.”

“Their 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 wrote Sunday, January 26, on X (formerly Twitter).

READ: PCG: Chinese vessels continue illegal patrol off Zambales coast

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

Tarriela also disclosed in his social media post that CCG vessel 3103 has been operating illegally at a distance of 93 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales.

READ: PH vessel prevents Chinese ship from nearing Zambales coast

He added that BRP Cabra’s radio communications with the CCG vessel showed that “the Chinese Communist Party is disregarding international law while arrogantly asserting jurisdiction over these waters, which are well beyond the People's Republic of China's baseline.”

“Without needing to emphasize the key points of the 2016 Arbitral Award, which invalidated their nine-dash line claim, it’s evident that anyone with a sound mind, genuinely concerned about preserving peace and stability in the region, would acknowledge that their presence in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone is both barbaric and illegitimate,” he likewise said.

(2025/01/26-15:15)