DFA files protest against China’s new 10-dash line

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said that it protested China’s new map that features a 10-dash line.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, DFA-Office of ASEAN Affairs Asec. Daniel R. Espiritu said that the agency has already protested but did not elaborate on when it was filed or to which body.

“Suffice it to say that we already protested against that ‘no. Definitely, we’re not in favor of that; we reject that, and we continue to promote a peaceful settlement of disputes in that regard,” said Espiritu.

When pressed for more details regarding this protest, Espritu said that the agency filed it earlier than Thursday.

However, Espiritu said that he was not in the office that filed the protest and could not disclose more details.

In a separate statement, the DFA slammed the new 10-dash line, which covered the eastern section of Taiwan and most of the West Philippine Sea.

“The Philippines rejects the 2023 version of China’s Standard Map issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China on August 28, 2023, because of its inclusion of the nine-dashed line (now a ten-dashed line) that supposedly shows China’s boundaries in the South China Sea,” the DFA said.

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