Manila has violated law of the sea

On May 6, the Philippine National Police intercepted a Chinese fishing boat off Half Moon Shoal in the Nansha Islands and detained 11 Chinese fishermen, who were then shifted to the southwestern province of Palawan. The Philippines' alleges that the Chinese fishermen violated wildlife protection laws by poaching endangered marine turtles in its "exclusive economic zone". Nine of the 11 Chinese fishermen have been charged with poaching.

Manila's action against the Chinese fishermen is absurd and violates international laws. China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, including the Half Moon Shoal. China was the first to discover and name the islands, and the first to exercise sovereign jurisdiction over them, and it has ample historical and jurisprudential evidence to support this.

China exercised jurisdiction over the Nansha Islands without any disputes until World War II, during which Japan invaded and occupied them. In accordance with the "Cairo Declaration" and "Potsdam Proclamation", China resumed its sovereignty over the Nansha Islands in 1946. To maintain its sovereignty over the islands, China issued a "South Sea Islands Location Map" in 1948, which was re-adopted after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Beijing issued the Declaration on the Territorial Sea in 1958, adopted the Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone in 1992 and the Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf in 1998, reaffirming its sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters. In 2009, it submitted a diplomatic note, including a South China Sea map with the nine-dotted line, to the UN. The nine-dotted U-shaped line, or nine-dash map, refers to the demarcation line used by China for its claim in the South China Sea, which includes the Xisha Islands, Dongsha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands including Huangyan Island and Zengmu reef.

For a long time, neighboring countries, including the Philippines, acknowledged China's sovereignty over the South China Sea islands atolls, sandbanks and reefs and their adjacent waters. The waters around the Half Moon Shoal are not part of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. Instead, they are under the jurisdiction of China.