Phl protests SCS fishing ban

The Philippines has protested China’s imposition of a four-month-long fishing ban in the South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

“Through a diplomatic note, the Philippines protested the ban insofar as it includes the Philippine maritime zones over which the Philippines has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction,” the DFA said.

Earlier this month, China announced the beginning of its annual fishing moratorium in the South China Sea, which the Philippines and Vietnam, another claimant state in the South China Sea, have been rejecting.

Citing a paragraph from the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea, which cemented Manila’s claim to the West Philippine Sea, Manila said China’s fishing moratorium is “illegal.”

The DFA pointed out that Paragraph 716 of the Arbitral Award, which is “final and binding,” states that China, by promulgating its moratorium on fishing in the South China Sea “without exception for areas of the South China Sea falling within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and without limiting the moratorium to Chinese flagged vessels, is in breach of Article 56 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

The Philippines stressed that the unilateral imposition of the fishing moratorium “raises tensions in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.”

Likewise, it underscored that the imposition of the fishing ban “directly contravenes the understanding between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping to manage their differences through diplomacy and dialogue and to de-escalate the situation at sea.”

China has been imposing a fishing ban in the South China Sea since 1999 — a move criticized by the Philippines and other claimants in the South China Sea. The fishing ban this year will last until 16 September.

The vast South China Sea, which the People’s Republic of China claims, covers the West Philippine Sea, which the Philippines also claims.

On 12 July 2016, the Philippines won its arbitral case against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration — a landmark decision the People’s Republic of China continues to reject.

Last year, the Philippines also protested the imposition of a moratorium on fishing in the South China Sea, which China said was to promote sustainable fishing in the resource-rich waters.

The Philippines had issued a strong warning to China that it was “ready” to “take law enforcement measures on illegal fishing activities in its waters.”

Vietnam also rejected the fishing ban, calling it a violation of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the said waters.