China has imposed a four-month fishing ban in the South China Sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea where Filipino fishers source their livelihood.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday, May 27, disclosed China's latest fishing moratorium that covers areas of South China Sea 12 degrees of the north latitude. The ban started in May and is expected to end by September 16, according to DFA.
In a statement, the agency said Beijing's move heightens tension between the Philippines and China as it is "unilateral" and "contravenes" the understanding reached by President Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their bilateral discussion last year.
China's action came at the heels of its continued harassment against Filipino troops and fishers in the West Philippines Sea, which includes conducting dangerous maneuvers, firing multiple times water cannon on resupply and humanitarian missions, among others.
"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," DFA said.
As of May 27, 2024, the Philippine government has already filed 25 diplomat protest against China since the start of the year, and a total of 158 under the Marcos administration.
The agency reasserted the Paragraph 716 of the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea, which already ruled that China's fishing moratorium is against international law.
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 (UNCLOS) with respect to the Philippines' sovereign rights over the living resources of its exclusive economic zone," the ruling read.
The Philippines then 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."
It also urged Beijing to 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.