With nod from China, Duterte to ban fishing in disputed shoal

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will issue an executive order declaring part of the disputed Scarborough Shoal a marine sanctuary off-limits to all fishermen, a move his office said was supported by Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Duterte will make a unilateral declaration barring fishermen from exploiting marine life at a tranquil lagoon that was central to years of bitter squabbling, and the basis of an arbitration case brought and won by the Philippines.

The dispute over the Scarborough Shoal is one of several involving South-East Asian countries seeking to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Since 2012, China has deployed its coastguard to block the shoal from Filipinos, despite being located inside the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

The establishment of a protected marine zone, if successful, could provide both countries with a face-saving way to break the diplomatic deadlock without making a political agreement or formal concessions.

Under the plan announced by the president’s office yesterday, fishermen from both countries can cast nets on the fringes of the lagoon but not inside it, allowing fish stocks to be replenished.

The move is the latest gesture towards China in what has been an astonishing reversal of Philippine foreign policy under Duterte, who opted to befriend Beijing while admonishing long-time ally the United States for what he called hypocrisy and bullying.

The about-face came soon after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines in a complex ruling that undermined the territorial claims China stakes with a U-shaped dotted line on its maps.

China has refused to recognise the case.

The PCA award said no one country had sovereign rights to the Scarborough Shoal, thus all claimants were legally entitled to exploit its fish stocks.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Xi, whom Duterte met at the weekend during an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru, had voiced support for the sanctuary plan. — Reuters