The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday filed a diplomatic protest over China’s new law allowing its Coast Guard to fire on foreign vessels. “After reflection I fired a diplomatic protest. While enacting law is a sovereign prerogative, this one—given the area involved or for that matter the open South China Sea—is a verbal threat of war to any country that defies the law; which, if unchallenged, is submission to it,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted. Earlier, when a radio commentator made comments on the new Chinese law, Locsin had said: “It’s none of our business; it is China’s business what laws it passes; so please, a little self-restraint.”

Mercene, R., & Fernandez, B. (2021, January 28). Locsin files protest vs new China Coast Guard Law. Business Mirror, pp. A12, A2.