The Vietnamese Coast Guard, in a rare move, has seized a Chinese vessel for allegedly intruding in its waters, state media said yesterday.
The Thanh Nien newspaper said that the vessel has been towed to the northern port city of Hai Phong, Vietnam, and that the ship, its captain and two sailors, all Chinese, are under the supervision of Vietnamese authorities.
The vessel, disguised as a fishing boat, was carrying 100,000 liters of diesel oil and was intercepted by the Vietnamese Coast Guard near Bach Long Vi Island in the Gulf of Tonkin on Thursday, it said.
The captain told authorities the fuel was to be sold to Chinese fishing boats operating in the area, it said.
Hai Phong Coast Guard officials declined to comment yesterday.
The newspaper said that in the last two weeks of last month the coast guard had chased 110 Chinese fishing boats out of Vietnamese waters.
The Vietnamese Coast Guard often warns and chases Chinese fishing boats out of its waters, but rarely seizes them.
Vietnamese fishermen complain they are harassed, attacked and have had their catches confiscated by Chinese authorities while fishing in the South China Sea.
Vietnam is locked in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, which is rich in resources and occupies one of the world busiest sea lanes.
Taiwan, Vietnam and China have competing claims over the Paracel islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) which are occupied by China, while the three along with the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have claimed parts or all of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
Chinese growing territorial assertiveness in the region, including recent massive land reclamation of reefs and atolls in the Spratlys and its increased military actions in the two island chains, have raised concerns among neighbors and the US.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese