Marcos Jr. says China’s detention policy for ‘trespassers’ is ‘completely unacceptable’

A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship blocks a Philippine civilian resupply mission of the Atin Ito Coalition to Panatag Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on May 15, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday called China’s policy of detaining “trespassers” in the South China Sea as “completely unacceptable to the Philippines.”

The Filipino leader gave the comment after reports claimed that Beijing has authorized the Chinese Coast Guard to detain any person perceived as trespassing in waters which they claim.

“That kind of action would be completely unacceptable to the Philippines,” Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Makati.

“I do not talk about the operational details so you will [have to] leave it to us but the position we take is that is unacceptable,” he said.

While the Commander-in-Chief did not give specific details as to how the Philippines would respond should a Filipino fisherfolk be detained by Chinese Coast Guard officials, Marcos Jr. said that his government would “take any measures to always protect our citizens.”

Relations between the Philippines and China have been tense in recent months as Beijing continues to illegally claim parts of Manila’s exclusive economic zone 

In 2016, an international arbitration court invalidated China’s 9-dash line map which shows that it owns nearly the entire South China Sea, saying that Beijing’s claim had no legal basis.

China has continued to snub the ruling and has been using water cannons and nearly ramming into Philippine vessels that have been sending fresh supplies to an outpost in the Scarborough Shoal.