China can’t make arrests in disputed sea

China does not have the "authority or power" to conduct law enforcement operations on waters under the Philippine exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, an official of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.

National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya, insisted that only the Philippine government has the sovereign right to hold law enforcement operations in the WPS because it is within the country's EEZ

"The National Task Force-West Philippine Sea wishes to emphasize that China has no authority or power to conduct law enforcement operations in our exclusive economic zone," he said in a media forum on Saturday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines reported that Chinese vessels made dangerous maneuvers and harassed two Philippine Navy boats and two Philippine Coast Guard escort ships while on a rotation and resupply mission en route to the BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned navy vessel grounded in the Ayungin Shoal since 1999.

Malaya rebuffed the claims of the Chinese Coast Guard that it was just conducting law enforcement operations against Philippine vessels "illegally entering" their territory.

Within Phl EEZ

"Law enforcement operations in the exclusive economic zone are within the purview of elements of the Philippine government — and that is why the statement of the Chinese Coast Guard is wrong," he said.

Malaya slammed the dangerous maneuvers and aggressive conduct by vessels of the CCG and the Chinese maritime militia against the Filipino troops aboard the Philippine supply boats delivering fresh food and other replenishment supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre.

"Again, we strongly deplore and condemn the continued illegal, aggressive, and destabilizing conduct of the CCG and CMM within the nation's exclusive economic zone," he said.

China's use of a water cannon to disperse Philippine vessels conducting a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre last month has gained the attention of many lawmakers, maritime experts, and international leaders.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. made clear during the 18th East Asia Summit in Indonesia "that the Philippines condemned the harassment in the South China Sea and stood firm in the government's commitment to assert its sovereign rights over the Philippine waters."