Philippines Protests China's Prohibition Of Fish Fishing Unilaterally

Philippine coast guard ship BRP Bagacay (MRRV-4410). (Wikimedia Commons/Philippine Coast Guard Facebook)

JAKARTA - The Philippine State Department on Monday announced it was protesting against China's unilateral implementation of a four-month fishing ban on the South China Sea.

Beijing imposed an annual fishing ban in South China Sea waters. Meanwhile, Manila routinely opposes it. This year, the ban is expected to last until September.

The Philippine State Department (DFA) protested the ban through a diplomatic note, saying the fishing moratorium includes waters within its maritime zone.

The imposition of a ban on fishing annually increases tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippine State Department said, calling on Beijing to "stop illegal acts" that violate the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the Philippines.

"The Philippines emphasizes that the unilateral application of fishing moratoriums increases tensions in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea," the DFA said in a statement.

Last week, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said the Bambung Curtain Country regulation on how Coast Guard can operate in South China is a "provocation".

Beijing and Manila have repeatedly been involved in tensions surrounding territorial waters in the South China Sea.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea region, which is an international trade route with a value of more than US$3 trillion per year. Its territorial claims overlap with the waters claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

In 2016, an international arbitration court said China's claim had no legal basis, a decision Beijing rejected.