Following the recent ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) denying China's claims to disputed territories in the South China Sea, a top Beijing court announced on Tuesday that foreign fishermen could face up to one year in jail if they are caught illegally fishing in China's waters.

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China's Supreme People's Court handed down the "new jurisdictional interpretation," which took effect on Tuesday, to uphold Beijing's sovereignty claims.

According to the new "jurisdictional interpretation," international vessels and their crews could face trial and be sentenced to one year in jail sentence if they are caught illegally entering and fishing in Chinese waters.

Exclusive economic zone

The court said that Chinese waters include its contiguous and exclusive economic zones as well as its continental shelves.

Analysts have said that the new law is a show of force by Beijing that it would not kowtow to the ruling of the international arbitration court and pressure to abide by the verdict.

Wang Hanling, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Science, said anyone who violates Beijing's maritime laws run the risk of being imprisoned aside from the confiscation of their vessels and fishing materials.

Illegal fishing

Although the Beijing court did not mention the South China Sea dispute and the recent arbitration court ruling in its statement, Wang said it was about time that the court handed down such a law to protect China's interests in their waters.

"When it came to illegal fishing by foreign fishermen before, we usually just drove them out, or, in some serious cases, confiscated the goods or fishing tools but finally would let them go rather than taking them to court," Wang said.

Wang said with the new law, Chinese authorities now have guidelines to follow when handling illegal fishermen who veer into the country's waters.

International pressures

Wang said Beijing has been facing tremendous pressure from its neighbors and the international community and is defending its sovereignty in the South and East China Seas.

The state-run news agency Xinhua said that with the new ruling, China's bureaucracy would be tasked with handling maritime-related situations and protecting Beijing's interests in its waters.

The new jurisdictional interpretation comes on the heels of the recent international tribunal ruling that denied China's claims to the South China Sea under its nine-dash line.

Mischief Reef

The ruling found Beijing to have violated the Philippines' rights to its exclusive economic zone by constructing facilities on Mischief Reef.

Beijing, which said that it does not recognize the court's jurisdiction, boycotted the entire proceedings.

China also refused to accept the court's ruling, dismissing it as "null and void" and a "piece of waste paper."

Tagsjurisdictional interpretation, Chinese waters, South China Sea, East China Sea, tribunal ruling, china