China is defending a move by Hainan province to require all foreign fishing vessels to seek permission before entering disputed waters in the South China Sea that are claimed by Beijing.

The new rule, which went into effect on January 1, covers more than half the 3.5 million square kilometers of the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying Thursday said the move is unremarkable.

He said, “China is a maritime nation, so it is totally normal and part of the routine for Chinese provinces bordering the sea to formulate regional rules according to the national law to regulate conservation, management and utilization of maritime biological resources.”

Su Hao, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, says the new rules should not be seen as a major change.

“First of all, China’s regulations of the South Sea fishing region in reality is taking a formerly customary thing and clarifying them a little bit, that’s all. Furthermore [it] lacks substantive exclusive provisions,” said Hao. “In other words, [it] only stipulates that China has its own rights in these places and that Chinese law enforcement vessels can go to these places to perform regular cruises. However, that is not to say that other nation’s ships cannot go in, or that other nation’s fishermen cannot go in. It’s merely taking facts that previously existed and clarifying them, that is all.”

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