(BGF) – China’s new law that requires foreign fishermen to seek Beijing’s approval to operate in disputed waters of the South China Sea, increased tensions with Vietnam and the Philippines. The U.S. has also criticized China’s move, calling it “provocative and potentially dangerous.”, according to the Fox News.

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Philippines, Vietnam condemn China’s new fishing law that reinforces claim on South China Sea

January 10, 2014

(MANILA, Philippines) –  The Philippines and Vietnam have condemned China’s new law that requires foreign fishermen to seek Beijing’s approval to operate in much of the South China Sea, where overlapping territorial claims have increased tensions.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday that the new regulation “escalates tensions, unnecessarily complicates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens the peace and stability of the region.”

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said a statement late Thursday that Hanoi has “undisputable” sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel islands, and that “all foreign activities in these areas without Vietnamese acceptance are illegal and invalid.”

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