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BEIJING—Enforcement of China’s new regulation requiring foreign fishermen to obtain Beijing’s consent before operating in the disputed South China Sea will focus on waters close to China that are also claimed by Vietnam, an official said, potentially setting China on a collision course with Hanoi.
The regulation, which was enacted by China’s island province of Hainan on Jan. 1, is the latest effort by Beijing to bolster territorial claims and is adding to tensions over contested islets, freedom of navigation and rights to fisheries and other resources in a sea vital to world trade. The Philippines and Vietnam this week criticized the measure, as has the U.S. State Department which called it “provocative and potentially dangerous.”
In recent months, China has stepped up muscle-flexing over its territorial claims, declaring an air-control zone over the East China Sea that aggravated a dispute with Japan and challenged a fledgling thaw with South Korea. The latest moves in the South China Sea increases prospects for further standoffs with its southern neighbors.
Wu Shicun, a delegate to Hainan’s legislature and former head of the province’s foreign-affairs office, said in an interview Friday that the measure in principle applied to China’s entire territorial claim in the South China Sea, which extends to near the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia.
In practice, however, Mr. Wu said that Chinese enforcement would focus on policing the waters near the Paracel Islands, just south of Hainan, and not farther away. Mr. Wu said punishments—including fines and seizing catches—would be strengthened against fishermen who entered the area without permission. He said Vietnam has been encouraging its fishermen to enter the area.
“The goal is to make them not dare to come back,” said Mr. Wu, who is also president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies. “If you violate the rules, you will pay a high price.” He said the U.S. had grown too worked up about the new measure, which he said was aimed at better regulating the fishing industry.
China has exercised de facto control of the Paracels after ousting Vietnam in a naval battle in 1974 and has since built up a sizable government and military presence.
Hanoi hasn’t relinquished its claim. Luong Thanh Nghi, spokesman for Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, reiterated Friday that Vietnam had “indisputable sovereignty” over the Paracels and Spratlys, another island group further to the south, claimed in part or full also by China, the Philippines and others. “Any foreign activities not approved by Vietnam in this area are illegal and invalid,” he said, in response to a media query.
Other South China Sea claimants include Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Verbal sparring and outright confrontations have been on the rise in recent years as a more powerful China asserts claims it has long made on paper and as other countries resist. In March, Vietnam accused China of firing upon a Vietnamese fishing boat operating near the Paracels. China’s Defense Ministry later said Chinese sailors fired two flares as a warning and had not attacked the Vietnamese.
On Friday, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said it was “gravely concerned” by the new regulation. “This development escalates tensions, unnecessarily complicates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens the peace and stability of the region,” the statement read.
Existing Chinese law requires foreign fishing vessels to obtain permission from China’s central government before operating in its territorial waters; the new Hainan regulation deals more directly with disputed South China Sea waters.
Further south from the Paracels, the waters around the disputed Spratly Islands, off the Philippine island of Palawan, offer rich fishing grounds. Disputed sections of the South China Sea may also be rich in energy reserves, including oil and gas. Mr. Wu said Filipino fishermen operating near the Spratlys wouldn’t be affected by the new measure.
Mr. Wu said the priority for enforcement is China’s territorial waters—the area that under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from what is known as a country’s “baseline,” the low-water line along a coast from which countries measure territorial waters.
“The regulation only applies to territorial waters for which we have announced baselines, and those waters which we are practically able to control,” he said.
The U.S. has long said it doesn’t take sides in the territorial dispute, but that it supports any measures conducive to maintaining freedom of navigation. Mr. Wu said the new regulation posed no threat to freedom of navigation in the area.
Asked about the State Department’s criticism of the new regulation, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that China had the right to manage resources in its sovereign territory.
–Yang Jie in Beijing and Vu Trong Khanh in Hanoi contributed to this article.
China Sea Rules to Raise Tensions With Vietnam - Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com
The regulation, which was enacted by China’s island province of Hainan on Jan. 1, is the latest effort by Beijing to bolster territorial claims and is adding to tensions over contested islets, freedom of navigation and rights to fisheries and other resources in a sea vital to world trade. The Philippines and Vietnam this week criticized the measure, as has the U.S. State Department which called it “provocative and potentially dangerous.”
In recent months, China has stepped up muscle-flexing over its territorial claims, declaring an air-control zone over the East China Sea that aggravated a dispute with Japan and challenged a fledgling thaw with South Korea. The latest moves in the South China Sea increases prospects for further standoffs with its southern neighbors.
Wu Shicun, a delegate to Hainan’s legislature and former head of the province’s foreign-affairs office, said in an interview Friday that the measure in principle applied to China’s entire territorial claim in the South China Sea, which extends to near the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia.
In practice, however, Mr. Wu said that Chinese enforcement would focus on policing the waters near the Paracel Islands, just south of Hainan, and not farther away. Mr. Wu said punishments—including fines and seizing catches—would be strengthened against fishermen who entered the area without permission. He said Vietnam has been encouraging its fishermen to enter the area.
“The goal is to make them not dare to come back,” said Mr. Wu, who is also president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies. “If you violate the rules, you will pay a high price.” He said the U.S. had grown too worked up about the new measure, which he said was aimed at better regulating the fishing industry.
China has exercised de facto control of the Paracels after ousting Vietnam in a naval battle in 1974 and has since built up a sizable government and military presence.
Hanoi hasn’t relinquished its claim. Luong Thanh Nghi, spokesman for Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, reiterated Friday that Vietnam had “indisputable sovereignty” over the Paracels and Spratlys, another island group further to the south, claimed in part or full also by China, the Philippines and others. “Any foreign activities not approved by Vietnam in this area are illegal and invalid,” he said, in response to a media query.
Other South China Sea claimants include Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Verbal sparring and outright confrontations have been on the rise in recent years as a more powerful China asserts claims it has long made on paper and as other countries resist. In March, Vietnam accused China of firing upon a Vietnamese fishing boat operating near the Paracels. China’s Defense Ministry later said Chinese sailors fired two flares as a warning and had not attacked the Vietnamese.
On Friday, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said it was “gravely concerned” by the new regulation. “This development escalates tensions, unnecessarily complicates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens the peace and stability of the region,” the statement read.
Existing Chinese law requires foreign fishing vessels to obtain permission from China’s central government before operating in its territorial waters; the new Hainan regulation deals more directly with disputed South China Sea waters.
Further south from the Paracels, the waters around the disputed Spratly Islands, off the Philippine island of Palawan, offer rich fishing grounds. Disputed sections of the South China Sea may also be rich in energy reserves, including oil and gas. Mr. Wu said Filipino fishermen operating near the Spratlys wouldn’t be affected by the new measure.
Mr. Wu said the priority for enforcement is China’s territorial waters—the area that under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from what is known as a country’s “baseline,” the low-water line along a coast from which countries measure territorial waters.
“The regulation only applies to territorial waters for which we have announced baselines, and those waters which we are practically able to control,” he said.
The U.S. has long said it doesn’t take sides in the territorial dispute, but that it supports any measures conducive to maintaining freedom of navigation. Mr. Wu said the new regulation posed no threat to freedom of navigation in the area.
Asked about the State Department’s criticism of the new regulation, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that China had the right to manage resources in its sovereign territory.
–Yang Jie in Beijing and Vu Trong Khanh in Hanoi contributed to this article.
China Sea Rules to Raise Tensions With Vietnam - Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com
