South china sea

International experts said China’s fishing ban challenges rule-based order.

Vietnam has said it strongly protests China’s unilateral fishing ban in the South China Sea (called East Sea by Vietnam) as it violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands.

Deputy Spokesperson of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Doan Khac Viet. Photo: MOFA

Deputy Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Doan Khac Viet made the statement at a press conference in Hanoi on April 29 following the Chinese fishing ban applied from May 1 to September 16 to a vast area, including Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and part of the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of Vietnam.

Viet said the Chinese move violates international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, going against the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the Vietnam-China Agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues.

He said Vietnam has a full legal foundation and historical evidence to back its sovereignty claims over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands in the sea.

Over the past years, China illegally and unilaterally declared the seasonal fishing ban in the South China Sea for protecting marine resources, threatening the approach of foreign fishermen.

This year’s ban covers the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the waters north of 12 degrees north latitude in the South China Sea. It means that it covers part of Vietnam’s waters.

This year’s ban has caught public attention over the enforcement of China’s Coast Guard Law in which it allows Chinese forces use force towards foreign ships.

The China Coast Guard (CCG) said it will keep a closer eye on the banned areas to ensure the enforcement of the summer fishing ban.

China’s unchanging, if more subtle, assertions of maritime control threaten international law and order. The international community must unite to confront Chinese aggression, Lieutenant Commander Wataru Okada, surface warfare officer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and graduate student at Georgetown University, wrote for The Diplomat .

The three-and-a-half-month ban totally goes against international law, including UNCLOS.

Beijing’s fishing ban in the South China Sea from May 1 to August 16 is totally absurd and it violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Vietnamese waters, Vietnamese fishermen have stated.

The ban violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands and its legitimate rights and interest in its waters, and goes against international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Vietnam Fisheries Society stressed.

“The ban has no jurisdiction whatsoever over Vietnamese seas. Vietnamese fishermen have complete rights to fish in waters under their sovereignty,” the society said in a statement, calling for Vietnam’s authorities to take “drastic measures” to forcefully condemn and end China’s arrogant moves. It also called for increasing sea patrols to protect local fishermen in Vietnam’s territorial waters.

Vietnam’s fishing boats operate in South China Sea. Photo: Thanh Nien

Early this month, the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced a three-and-a-half-month ban on waters covering China’s Fujian and Guangdong provinces, which includes Vietnam’s Paracel Islands, parts of the Gulf of Tonkin, and the Scarborough Shoal, formerly administered by the Philippines.

The fishing ban covers an area that is “flagrantly beyond China’s lawful jurisdiction and deep within its neighbors’ exclusive economic zones,” RFI cited Hunter Stires, a fellow with the U.S. Naval War College’s John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research.

“To make its draconian vision a reality, China is working to impose its will and its own domestic laws on other countries’ fishermen and local Southeast Asian civilian mariners throughout the South China Sea,” he said.

Similarly, the Philippines also protested the ban, saying China has no right and moral ascendancy to declare a fishing ban in the area. Filipino authorities said, Beijing threatened to “arrest illegal fishers from Vietnam and the Philippines,” Businessmirror reported.

Beijing says it enforces the fishing ban annually to preserve fishing stocks in its territorial waters, Express reported.

China is known for being one of the largest sources of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing in the region, according to the 2019 IUU Fishing Index.

It is also not a member of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, the main intergovernmental organization in Southeast Asia devoted to fisheries protection and sustainable development.

Both Vietnam and the Philippines are members of the center.

The Biden Administration advocates for the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

Washington has affirmed that it continues supporting ASEAN principles in the South China Sea issues, welcoming the bloc’s role in promoting cooperation, dialogue, and confidence building.

Representatives of ASEAN and US at the meeting on May 6. Photo: VTCNews

Diplomats of 10 ASEAN member states and the US affirmed at the 34th ASEAN-US Dialogue held via videoconference on May 6 to strengthen cooperation in solving the South China Sea issues.

The event marked the participation of US Ambassador Atul Keshap, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and heads of ASEAN Senior Officials, including Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.

Keshap said the Biden Administration attaches great importance to the strategic partnership with ASEAN, supporting the ASEAN Centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and enhancing the cooperation to cope with challenges, according to the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Talking about the international and regional situation, ASEAN and the US pledged their commitments to maintaining peace, security and stability in the region, including maritime security and safety in the sea, the world’s vital maritime route.

The US reaffirmed the importance of the substantive implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and effective negotiations of Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) to be suitable with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung at the meeting. Photo: VNA

On behalf of ASEAN countries, Nguyen Quoc Dung stressed the need to enhance cooperation, dialogue, confidence building, rule-based approach, and mutual respect in the face of increasing challenges such as epidemics, natural disasters, climate change, competition for natural resources, and sovereignty claims.

At the meeting, the two sides also discussed measures for the Myanmar situation. The US highly appreciates ASEAN’s role in supporting Myanmar.

The ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations have been progressing since its establishment in 1977.

In addition to exchange of views on political and security matters in the early stages of the dialogue relations, both sides also gave priority to practical cooperation in commodities, market and capital access, transfer of technology, development of energy resources, shipping, and food security.

In the early 1990s, the development cooperation between ASEAN and the US was reoriented to focus on trade and investment, technology transfer and human resources development.

ASEAN and the US have sustained their regular engagements at all levels, including the ASEAN-U.S. Summit, the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs), the ASEAN-US Dialogue, and the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) Meeting.

The US was the first Dialogue Partner to establish a mission to ASEAN in Jakarta in 2010.

Vietnam’s firm position is that actions taken to preserve biological resources have to be taken in accordance with relevant regulations under the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) without compromsing the sovereignty and jurisdiction rights of other nations, Foreign Affairs Ministry deputy spokesman Doan Khac Viet said Thursday.

“Vietnam opposes and vehemently rejects China’s unilateral decision,” he said, asserting that China’s unilateral fishing ban has violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands and international law, including UNCLOS.

It also goes against the spirit and letter of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties at the South China Sea (DOC) and violates agreements regarding fundamental principles on conflict resolution at sea between Vietnam and China, Viet said. The South China Sea is called the East Sea in Vietnam.

He was responding to an inquiry regarding recent information that the Chinese coast guard would implement a summer fishing ban from May 1 to September 16 in certain sea regions, including parts of the Gulf of Tonkin and Vietnam’s Paracel Islands.

Vietnam has full legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands in accordance with international law, Viet reiterated.

China has illegally and unilaterally announced fishing bans on even foreign fishermen, threatening that it would arrest and punish violations of the ban.

On May 4, the Vietnam Fishing Society protested the ban that it called absurd.

Vietnam has refuted the fishing ban that China has unilaterally imposed from May to mid-August in the South China Sea.

Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: Baoquocte

“Vietnam rejects China’s unilateral decision. In the current international and regional situation , Vietnam demands China not complicate the situation in the East Sea,” Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang of the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, referring to the East Sea as the internationally-known South China Sea.

Early this month, the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced a three-and-a-half-month ban on waters covering China’s Fujian and Guangdong provinces, which includes Vietnam’s Paracel Islands, parts of the Gulf of Tonkin, and the Scarborough Shoal, formerly administered by the Philippines.

“Vietnam has sufficient legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands that are in line with international law. Vietnam, as a coastal country and member of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), has sovereignty rights and jurisdiction rights over its waters that are stipulated in and allowed by the Convention,” Hang stated.

On May 4, the Vietnam Fishing Society protested the ban that it called absurd, calling for increasing sea patrols to protect local fishermen in Vietnam’s territorial waters.

Manila also protested the ban, saying China has no right and moral ascendancy to declare a fishing ban in the area, Filipino authorities said. Beijing threatened to “arrest illegal fishers from Vietnam and the Philippines,” Businessmirror reported.

The fishing ban covers an area that is “flagrantly beyond China’s lawful jurisdiction and deep within its neighbors’ exclusive economic zones,” RFI cited Hunter Stires, a fellow with the U.S. Naval War College’s John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research.