Voltaire Gazmin, defense secretary of the Philippines, announced on Jan. 25 that seven local fishing boats have continued to fish in the area of Scarborough Shoal despite the new rules on navigating in the South China Sea recently announced by the Chinese government, reports the Manila-based ABN-CBN News.
Scarborough Shoal is known in the Philippines as Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc after the municipality in Zambales province which claims jurisdiction over it. “In Bajo de Masinloc, the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported that they sighted three Chinese coast guard vessels in the shoal but seven fishing boats belonging to Filipino fishermen were also sighted,” said Gazmin. “Local fishermen can fish freely in the shoal and are not being harassed.”
China claims the shoal as Huangyan island.
Asked whether the Chinese side had implemented its new fishing laws or not, Gazmin said the fishermen would have been arrested if the laws had been implemented. He said that the Panatag Shoal is a traditional fishing area for Philippine fishermen, stating that China had begun the deployment of maritime security vessels to the region to prevent the Philippine Navy from arresting Chinese poachers in April 2012, an incident that lead to a prolonged standoff. Civilian ships were mobilized by Manila to counter the Chinese vessels operating in the region but were eventually called back on Jun. 15 due to bad weather.
In protest against the law recently issued by the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress which covers 2 million hectares of disputed waters, Gazmin encouraged his country’s fishermen to continue operating in the region even though Chinese media reported that the law had gone into effect last month.
Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, stated however that the reason maritime security vessels of China had not arrested the fishermen in question was not because Beijing had not implemented the law but rather because the fishermen were not in breach of any Chinese laws. This new local regulation was not established to change the status quo in the South China Sea, according to the state-run Global Times, citing Hua.
“There is no need at all to reinforce China’s long-standing and clear claim of rights and interests over the South China Sea by passing a local regulation,” Hua said. “As a country with a coast on the South China Sea, China is a firm advocate of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the South China Sea.” Hua also explained that there is no difference between the measures and the Fisheries Law enacted in 1986 in terms of provisions on the entry of foreign fishing boats in the official statement.
2014 WantChinaTimes.com