MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday signed two laws reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and the right to resources, including those of the South China Seaangering China, which claims the disputed waterway almost in its entirety.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Philippine ambassador to China to lodge a “severe protest.” The ministry condemned the move as an attempt to “solidify the illegal ruling of the South China Sea arbitration case through domestic law.”

Clashes between the coast guard and Chinese and Philippine naval forces in the disputed sea passage have increased alarmingly since last year. This has raised fears that the United States, Manila’s former treaty ally, could become embroiled in a major conflict.

The laws, called the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Maritime Routes Act, were signed by Marcos in a nationally televised ceremony attended by top military and national security officials. They cement even more Manila’s rejection of China’s claims over virtually the entire maritime passage, and stipulates prison sentences and severe fines for violators.

“These signal our determination to protect our maritime resources, preserve our rich biodiversity and ensure that our waters remain a source of life and livelihood for all Filipinos,” Marcos said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the move “seriously infringes on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.”

“China strongly condemns and firmly opposes it,” he said.

In a new national map released last year, the Chinese government demarcated its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea with vague dashed lines. which sparked protests and rejections from rival coastal states and governments, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The maritime zones law demarcates key parts of the Philippine archipelago’s territory and peripheral waters where it has full sovereignty and sovereign rights under international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Philippine officials said.

Those zones include the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, a 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometer) stretch of water where a coastal state like the Philippines has exclusive rights to harness energy and other resources. Foreign ships and aircraft have an internationally recognized right known as “innocent passage” to pass through such an area, as long as the security of the coastal state is not threatened.

The Archipelagic Sea Routes Act allows the Philippines to designate sea routes and air routes in the archipelago where foreign ships and aircraft could transit under its regulation and in accordance with international law.

“These legal instruments solidify our territory and improve our ability to protect our country against any infringement,” said National Security Advisor Eduardo Año.

Marcos said the laws comply with international law and UNCLOS, but many of their provisions contrast sharply with Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea and would likely be rejected and challenged by China.

It is unclear how the Philippines could enforce the laws, which come into force 15 days after they are published in the official government gazette or a newspaper, given China’s increasingly aggressive actions to push its claims.

Copies of the laws signed by Marcos were not immediately available, but a final version of the maritime zones bill stated that “all artificial islands constructed within the Philippine EEZ belong to the Philippine government.”

China has transformed seven disputed reefs into what are now missile-protected island bases, including Mischief Reef, which lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The law based the Philippines’ maritime rights on UNCLOS, Philippine law and a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s extensive territorial claims on historical grounds.

China refused to participate in that arbitration, rejected the ruling and continues to challenge it. Its massive coast guard, navy, air force and so-called militia fleets have used water cannons, military-grade lasers and dangerous sea and air maneuvers to intimidate rival forces it accuses of veering into what Beijing calls its territory.

Washington has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, aircraft or ships come under armed attack in the disputed waters.