China insists on fishery rules

From the Manila Standard Today (Jan 12): China insists on fishery rules

In its bid to deflect criticisms from foreign countries, including the United States, following a recent ruling that requires foreign fishermen to seek permission before fishing in the South China Sea, Beijing said it was normal for a coastal state like China to formulate regulations to “safeguard legitimate rights of its fishermen.”

In a statement released by its Chinese foreign ministry in Manila, spokesperson Hua Chunying said that in coastal states like China, the regulations were aimed to preserve, use and manage their fishery resources.

“China is a coastal state, it is regular and routine practice that coastal provinces formulate local regulations in accordance with national laws to preserve, use and manage fishery resources,” she said.

Hua also clarified that the measure has been adopted since 1993 and was amended for the first time in 2008.

“The current version is the second amendment, which aims to strengthen the efforts to protect, reproduce, explore and rationally utilize fishery resources, to safeguard the legitimate rights of fishermen, to ensure quality and safety of aquatic products, to promote sustainable development of fishery industry and to protect fishery resources and eco-environment,” Hua said.

The United States, the Philippines and Vietnam during the week released separate statements denouncing the latest move from China, which requires foreign vessels to seek a permit from Chinese regional authorities in Hainan before entering the South China Sea.

On Friday, the Philippines requested China to clarify the new fisheries law issued by the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress.

“We are gravely concerned by this new regulation,” Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said on Friday.

“It is a gross violation of international law, particularly UNCLOS, and is contrary to the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” Hernandez said.

The Vietnamese government on the other hand, rejected the new regulations, describing them as “illegal and invalid”.

Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said in a statement that china’s move “further complicates the situation in the East Sea”.

Nghi also urged its northern neighbor to rectify its wrongdoing and make “practical contributions” to maintain peace and stability in the region.

The United States department spokeswoman Jen Psaki likewise slammed China’s regulation saying that the passage of these restrictions on other countries’ fishing activities in disputed portions of the South China Sea is a “provocative and potentially dangerous act”.

But Chinese embassy to Manila spokesman Zhang Hua suggested to their detractors to look into China’s Fisheries Law and past versions of the measure to see the legitimacy of the said regulations.

Zhang also strongly expressed “dissatisfaction” over Psaki’s remarks.

“I expressed China’s position yesterday [Friday]. We are dissatisfied with and opposed to the remarks made by the the US,” Hua said in a daily press conference, the transcript of which was released by the Chinese embassy.

She said that the regulation over the disputed seas was formulated in accordance with relevant internaitonal law.

“China is a coastal country as well as a continental one, with a long coastline and numerous islands and reffs. In accordance with relevant international law, common international practice and domestic laws, the Chinese government has the right and obligation to manage the living and non-living resources on relevant islands and reefs and in relevant waters,” Hua explained.

She said that the fishery laws and regulations of China have been properly enforced over the past 30 years, without causing any tension.

She also said the statement showed that the US government either “lacks common sense” or has “ulterior motives”.

“If someone insists on accusing the technical amendment to a local fishery regulation that hs been implementeed for years as a threat to regional peace and stability, he or she either lacks common sense or is of ulterior motives,” Hua said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/01/12/china-insists-on-fishery-rules-/