The United States (US) on Thursday backed the Philippines in criticizing a unilateral seasonal ban on fishing declared by Beijing in the dispute-rife South China Sea. The State Department pointed to a 2016 ruling by a court in The Hague that rejected Beijing’s claims, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ratified by China although not by the US. “The PRC’s unilateral fishing moratorium in the South China Sea is inconsistent with the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling and international law,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price wrote on Twitter, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

U.S backs us in China fishing ban. (2022, June 4). Daily Tribune, p. A6.