THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it filed a diplomatic protest over China’s unilateral imposition of a four-month-long fishing moratorium in parts of the South China Sea, saying the move violates international laws and raises tension in the disputed waters.
The DFA said the fishing moratorium,which covers areas of the South China Sea north of the 12 degrees North latitude, started on May 1 and is expected to last until September 16 this year.
“Through a diplomatic note, the Philippines protested the ban insofar as it includes the Philippines maritime zones over which the Philippines has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction,” the DFA said.
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with waters claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.
The DFA said the fishing ban covers areas within the Philippine maritime zones over which Manila exercises sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.
This, the department added, was also upheld in the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration which junked China’s massive claim in the South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line.
“Paragraph 716 of the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea 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, breached Article 56 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea with respect to the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the living resources of its exclusive economic zone,” the DFA said.
The Philippines and China are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) under which coastal states such as the Philippines are entitled to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
The DFA said China’s unilateral imposition of the fishing moratorium also raises tensions in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, and directly contravenes the understanding between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping to manage differences through diplomacy and dialogue and to de-escalate the situation at sea.
“The Philippines therefore called on China to cease and desist from the conduct of illegal actions that violates the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in its maritime zones, comply with its obligations under international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award, and, adhere to its commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” the DFA added.
Last year, the DFA lodged 66 diplomatic protests against Beijing.
The DFA has filed over 150 diplomatic protests against China over its aggressive actions at sea under the administration of President Marcos.
Of those, over 20 were lodged since the start of 2024 alone.
SINGLE SPOKESMAN
Senate President Francis Escudero yesterday said there should only be one spokesperson on issues related to the West Philippine Sea to prevent confusion on the matter.
He said concerned agencies including the Philippine Coast Guard, Department of National Defense, National Security Council, the Armed Forces, and the Department of Foreign Affairs, among others, should provide all information to a designated spokesman so that the issues on WPS will not create “chaos” that would further escalate tension between the Philippines and China.
Escudero expressed belief all disputes can be peacefully resolved as he urged the Philippine government and the Chinese government to thresh out ways on how to deescalate the tension in WPS. — With Raymond Africa and Reuters
