China’s 10-dash line claim in the South China Sea (SCS) is a “big joke” that should not be taken seriously by the Filipino people and the international community, the Philippine Navy (PN) said Tuesday, March 25.
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, PN spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), stressed that China’s claims in the SCS which overlap with the WPS “has no legal basis” as opposed to the Philippines’ claims which are backed by international law.
“That is a big joke designed for entertainment purposes. It has no legal basis, it is absurd, it is beyond normal human understanding,” Trinidad said.
According to the admiral, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by Chinese President Xi Jinping could be targeting at least three different audiences in asserting their “illegal” claims in the SCS.
“Number one could be the internal audience of the Chinese Communist Party in order to provide a strong narrative to support the grip on power. It could be the Filipino population. It could be the international audience,” he said.
“Suffice it to say, we have a lot of international jurisprudence that would support the stand of the Philippines. We have the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling. We have our Constitution,” he said.
On Monday, Department of National Defense (DND) Sec. Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the 10-dash line claim of China is its “biggest fiction and lie” that no country in Southeast Asia would accept.
He also lambasted Xi as he said the Chinese president’s “abuses” might lead to the downfall of his leadership and the CCP.
China first introduced a new map featuring the 10-dash line in 2023, replacing its erstwhile nine-dash line which it used to assert its claims in the SCS. A 2016 arbitral ruling invalidated China’s claims based on the nine-dash line but Beijing had ignored it.
Last month, social media users on Chinese applications falsely claimed that Palawan was part of China. The PN said this “absurd” claim should not be taken seriously.
“It is very clear that Palawan is part and parcel of our archipelago. Pronouncements like this by a foreign power should be taken with a grain of salt,” Rear Admiral Trinidad said.
While China’s expansionist claims should be considered a joke by the public, Trinidad noted that the government should utilize all available means to counter the false narratives being peddled online about the issue.
“No one is laughing at the joke,” Trinidad said.