China has ordered foreign fishing vessels to obtain approval from regional authorities before fishing or surveying in two thirds of the South China Sea, setting up the potential for new confrontations between Beijing and its neighbors over maritime sovereignty claims to disputed islands.

The new orders went into effect Jan. 1 after they were issued late November by Hainan island provincial government authorities.

Under the new regulations, all foreign fishing boats that transit into a new Hainan’s administrative zone in the sea—an area covering two-thirds of the 1.5 million square mile South China Sea—must be approved by Chinese authorities.

Read more: http://freebeacon.com/china-orders-foreign-fishing-vessels-out-of-most-of-the-south-china-sea/