The Philippines on Monday demanded that China stop its Coast Guard from confiscating the catch of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea, calling the practice “unacceptable.” The demand, aired by presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, followed reports that Chinese coast guards were confiscating the best part of Filipino fishermen’s catch at Panatag Shoal, a rich fishing ground off Zambales province in the West Philippine Sea, waters within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone in the heavily contested South China Sea. China seized Panatag — internationally known as Scarborough Shoal — from the Philippines in 2012, but the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, ruling in 2016 in favor of the Philippines in the country’s challenge to Chinese claim of sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, declared the shoal did not belong to any party in the territorial disputes in the strategic waterway.

Avedaño, C., Reysio-Cruz, M., & Cardinoza, G. (2018, June 12). PH tells China: Don’t seize Filipinos’ fish catch. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A5.