On May 27, Philippine foreign ministry protested China’s imposition of a unilateral four-month long fishing ban, in force from May 1 to September 16, in the South China Sea, urging Beijing to “cease and desist” from “illegal actions” that breach the Philippines’ sovereignty and sovereign rights.
This protest was the Philippines’ 25th diplomatic protest against China in 2024 and the 158th during President Marcos’ administration, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which sent a diplomatic note to China to maintain that the relevant waters are within its national waters.
China enforces a yearly fishing ban on South China Sea waters that the Philippines regularly resists. Beijing said the ban boosts sustainable fishing and conserves marine ecology in the waterway. This year’s ban is scheduled to last until September.
The DFA added that the unilateral fishing ban raises tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and also at the wider South China Sea, with Philippines defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro castigating China’s actions as a “provocation”.
The DFA said China has violated the 2016 arbitral award, which found China’s fishing ban violated Article 56 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UCLOS), which stipulates a coastal State within its EEZ has “sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources”.
China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its sovereign waters and rejects a 2016 international arbitration ruling by an independent arbitral tribunal established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of which it is a State Party to UNCLOS. The ruling stated China has no legal basis for the expansive claims. The tribunal also ruled that China had infringed on the Philippines’ sovereign rights. China dismissed the ruling as “nothing more than a piece of waste paper”.
The fishing ban directly contravenes the understanding between Marcos and Chinese president Xi Jinping to manage differences through diplomacy and dialogue and to de-escalate the situation at sea, according to the DFA, which also exhorted China to adhere to its commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
Commodore Ray Vincent Trinidad, a Philippine Navy spokesman, said additional patrols were mobilized to safeguard Filipino fishermen.
“The Philippine Navy does not recognize this provocative statement nor will we be deterred in performing our mandate of securing the welfare of Filipinos wherever he or she is – on land or on sea,” said Trinidad.
Joey Marabe, provincial coordinator of the Filipino fishermen’s group Pamalakaya in Zambales, told BenarNews that Filipino fishermen would continue to fish in the disputed waters, notwithstanding the possibility of arrest by Chinese authorities. He said the ban is an “unacceptable insult”, which also would directly impact the livelihood of Filipino fishermen.
“No foreigner has the right to stop us from fishing in our own territory,” he said.
China’s state-run media, the Global Times in an article on May 29, stated that China does not recognize the Philippines’ EEZ. In May, Chinese authority also said it would detain foreigners intruding into the disputed South China Sea, and reiterated the power of the Chinese Coast Guard.
Photo credit: Pixabay/ Quang Nguyen vinh. Generic photo of fishermen.
