The US State Department has called on the Chinese government to abide by the rule of law after it dismissed the Philippine protest on its fishing ban even on parts of the West Philippine Sea.
Ned Price, State Department spokesperson, said in a Twitter post Friday thatChina's "unilateral fishing moratorium in the South China Sea is inconsistent with the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling and international law as reflected in UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)."
Citing the report of the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs that it filed a protest on China's "unilateral fishing ban," Price added that the US is calling on the Chinese government "to abide by its obligations under international law."
On Thursday, June 2, China dismissed the Philippines' protest over the fishing ban in South China Sea which covers parts of the West Philippine Sea as it saidit is a "normal measure."
China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China cannot accept the Philippines' claims that the three-and-a-half month fishing ban in the South China Sea breached the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
China said the Philippines' accusation is “unwarranted.”