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‘China owes us an explanation': PH Senators flag Beijing law allowing coast guard to fire on foreign ships

  • [서울=아시아뉴스통신] 레악카나 기자
  • 송고시간 2021-01-28 02:10
  • 뉴스홈 > 국제
A Philippine coast guard ship sails past a Chinese coast guard ship during a joint search and rescue exercise between Philippine and US coastguards near Scarborough or Panatag Shoal. (Photo from AFP/Ted Aljibe)

[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] MANILA — Breaking with messaging from the Palace and the country's top diplomat, Sen. Richard Gordon on Tuesday said China must justify to the Philippines a new law allowing its coast guard to fire on ships in disputed waters according to PhilStar.

 "Our fisheries have been taken from us, our people have been deprived of their livelihood, and I think China owes us an explanation [on] what its true intentions are," he said during a plenary session at the Senate on Tuesday. "This is something that we must not let pass...when another country claims the oceans surrounding us, even threatens to demolish our fishing boats or the fishing boats of any country that somehow get into that [sea]." Draft wording of China's Coast Guard Law empowers it to use "all necessary means" to counteract threats from foreign vessels, per a report from Reuters. 


The law, which was passed last week and takes effect on February 1, also allows members of the Chinese coast guard to destroy structures built by foreign countries on reefs claimed by Beijing and to board and inspect foreign vessels in waters claimed by China. Gordon said the law is "a serious cause for concern" and "a shot in the bow of all the claimants in the [disputed] territories." Sen. Francis Tolentino similarly called the move alarming.