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China has approved new regulations authorizing its coast guard to detain for up to 60 days without trial foreign trespassers who cross what it claims are its borders.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila has not yet released a statement on the matter but it gave reporters on Friday a copy of the 92-page document in Chinese.
The Inquirer used an online translator tool to read the document called “Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures of Coast Guard Agencies,” which said that it was deliberated and adopted on May 15 and would take effect on June 15.
Under Chapter 14, which tackles the handling of administrative cases involving foreign parties, a provision states that foreigners suspected of violating China’s border laws may be detained if they are either suspected of illegally entering Chinese territory or exiting, or suspected of assisting others in illegal exit or entry.
The same provision indicates that those “suspected of endangering national security and interests, disrupting public order, or engaging in other illegal criminal activities” may also be detained for up to 30 days.
“For complicated cases, it may be extended to 60 days with the approval of the higher maritime police agency,” it said.
Chapter 2 says that China Coast Guard (CCG) would handle administrative cases occurring in “waters under the jurisdiction of our country.”
Its Article 266 allows its coast guard to seize foreign ships.
The South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper, which first reported the new rules said on Thursday that Beijing had “fleshed out” the CCG’s powers to detain foreigners for illegally crossing borders and that it was the “first time a specific regulation has clarified the coast guard force’s law enforcement procedure for administrative detentions.”
The release of the document coincided with a Philippine civilian mission launched on Wednesday to assert Manila’s claims over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, which is also called Bajo de Masinloc.
