Beijing’s ‘Little Blue Men’ spread across South China Sea as Britain sends strike group
2 May 2021 • 2:36pm
Chinese vessels anchored at the Whitsun Reef, around 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza in Palawan in the South China Sea. The boats gathered near a disputed reef in the South China Sea are ‘fishing boats’ sheltering from poor weather, the China foreign ministry said March 22, a day after the Philippines described their presence as an incursion
Credit: AFP
As she picked up a camera lens to zoom in on two specks on the horizon that were racing across the South China Sea towards her boat, Philippine journalist Chiara Zambrano froze in shock.
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Reuters
The Vietnamese government on Thursday denounced China’s annual, unilateral fishing ban in the South China Sea, which begins May 1.
“Vietnam opposes and resolutely rejects China s unilateral decision,” Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Spokesman Doan Khac Viet said at a press conference in Hanoi.
He said it violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea agreed by the Southeast Asian bloc in 2003. Viet added it “violates the Vietnam-China agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues.”
EDITORIAL: Whitsun Reef lays bare US’ frailty
Last month, the Philippine National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea reported that more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels were anchored at the disputed Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea, known as Julian Felipe Reef in the Philippines.
The task force released astonishing photographs, which showed clusters of enormous fishing trawlers at anchor and tied together in neat rows. Needless to say, the ships were not engaging in commercial fishing activity; they belong to China’s “maritime militia.”
Beijing’s flimsy official explanation is that the vessels are temporarily seeking shelter from inclement weather. This is patently ridiculous, given the time that the ships have been loitering in the area.
South China Sea: Beijing Warns Philippines On War Drills As Chinese Boats Remain Near Disputed Reefs
KEY POINTS
The country protested the continued presence of Chinese boats in the area
EU also called out China for endangering regional peace and stability in the region
Unfazed by the barrage of protests from neighbors over its aggressive tactics in the South China Sea, China mounted pressure on the Philippines Tuesday against holding war drills in the West Philippine Sea. We urge the relevant side to respect China s sovereignty and rights and interests, and stop actions complicating the situation and escalating disputes, CNN quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. He was responding to queries about the maritime exercises conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard near the disputed Whitsun Reef.