China’s own “domestic law” does not change any of this!
China’s claim of “sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters” was rejected in the 2016 Arbitral Award, which is final and binding.
Calling the area “Nansha Qundao” does not make it Chinese, and bringing up fishermen from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao does not make an intrusion legal.
Normal fishing doesn’t happen 250 meters from the shoreline of an island where Filipino personnel are stationed. It doesn’t come with a maritime militia mothership, CMMV 9622, deploying 22 sampans and dumping waste at sea.
This is the same vessel we repelled from Kota Island on 28 September. It came back less than two weeks later with more aggressive behavior.
Evidently, this is a coordinated militia operation, not a fishing trip!
