The Philippine government has refused to accept the ban on the Communist Party of China’s fishing moratorium in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, encouraging Philippine fishing vessels to continue fishing in Philippine territorial waters.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has imposed an annual fishing moratorium in the South China Sea and other Chinese coastal areas since 1999, banning fishing from May 1 to Aug. 16 each year.
The Philippine South China Sea Task Force said in a statement Tuesday (May 4) evening that “the fishing ban does not apply to our fishermen.”
The task force objected to the Communist Party of China’s ban on fishing moratoriums in Philippine territorial waters and jurisdictions, saying “we encourage our fishermen to go to sea and fish in our West Philippine Sea waters.”
The Philippines refers to the waters as the West Philippine Sea and has a long-standing sovereignty dispute with the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party claims most of the South China Sea. An international arbitration tribunal ruled in 2016 that the CCP’s claims were invalid, but the CCP rejected them.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has adopted a strategy of maintaining friendship with the CCP, but the conflict between the two countries escalated recently when Manila accused the CCP of sending hundreds of ships into the resource-rich disputed waters. The Philippines protests the illegal incursion by the CCP and says the ships are operated by maritime militias. For its part, the Chinese Communist Party says the ships are there to take shelter from the storm and are not military vessels.
The Philippine South China Sea Task Force spotted seven “Chinese maritime militia” vessels on Sabina Shoal (known as Xianbin Reef in China) in the disputed Spratly Islands on April 27, and they dispersed after being challenged by the Philippine Coast Guard. Five of the vessels returned two days later and left before the Philippine Coast Guard vessels arrived.
Sabina Reef is about 130 nautical miles from Palawan Island in the western Philippines. The task force said, “The Philippines will defend our national interests, heritage and our national dignity with everything we have without hesitation.”
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