China’s declaration of a ‘no sail’ zone in the South China Sea is technically a violation of maritime law, but not a new move from Beijing, maritime experts and U.S. officials told USNI News on Thursday.

On July 3, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration issued a notice telling all vessels not to operate in a 39,000 square mile patch of international water off of China’s Hainan Island and in portions of the contested Paracel Islands.

https://news.usni.org/2016/07/07/chinese-military-south-china-sea-no-sail-zone-nothing-new