South China Sea Dispute Blamed Partly on Depleted Fish Stocks

(Video: BONTV)

(HN, 5/16/12) - China & the Philippines have announced temporary bans on fishing in areas of the South China Sea they both claim as sovereign territory; tho every year China imposes a ban for several weeks in a northern part of the South China Sea for replenishment anyway. The move could help cool tempers after ships from the 2 sides faced off in April over Chinese fishing in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island by China, but the Philippines & Vietnam complain it is just another way for China to assert its claims on maritime territories that they also dispute.  The South China Sea is thought to contain enormous reserves of oil & natural gas - about 80% of the same amount of Saudi Arabia - much of it in disputed areas. China claims most of the South China Sea, putting it in conflict with competing claims by Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.  China's halt to fishing will go through August 1 while the Philippines did not indicate a time period for its ban. (Read more at VOA)