Chinese Coast Guard Escalates Maritime Border Disputes

The Chinese Coast Guard will more aggressively police the waters it claims, according to new regulations announced on May 15. The new rules, based off a 2021 Coast Guard law, mean that after June 15, any foreigners suspected of trespassing into Chinese waters can be interrogated and detained for up to 60 days.

The regulations will reinforce General Secretary Xi Jinping’s call last December to “severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities at sea.”

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday that this is a “worrisome” escalation in the South China Sea. He also reaffirmed that the Philippines “will use any point of contact with China to stop aggressive actions.”

China responded by saying, “There is no need for any individual or entity to worry as long as there is no illegal behavior.”

Legal? China points to ancient maps to make sweeping claims over nearly all of the massive South China Sea. But the Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that China’s preposterous claims have no basis under international law and, in fact, encroach on the lawfully held territory of several other nations, including the Philippines.

Every sovereign state has the right to formulate and enact laws, including the enforcement of domestic legislation within its jurisdiction. However, a state’s domestic laws may not be applied and enforced in the territory, maritime zones or jurisdiction of other states, nor violate other sovereign states’ rights and entitlements under international law.
—Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs

By imposing its jurisdiction in disputed waters, China would be “in direct violation of international law,” the Philippines warned. But who will effectively enforce that law?

Weakness: The United States recognizes the danger in Chinese aggression, but it has done little to confront it. This has left countries like the Philippines and Japan to fend for themselves. As the ancient Greek historian Thucydides said, “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

Significance: The Bible prophesies that an Asian alliance known as “the kings of the east” will form in the end time. Will the Asian countries at odds with China be forced to comply because of U.S. weakness?

To learn more about this alliance, request your free copy of Russia and China in Prophecy.