Chinese ship hits and sinks Vietnamese fishing boat in South China Sea, detains crew

[icymist]

A Vietnamese fishing boat with eight crew members on board was sunk after being hit by a Chinese ship near the disputed Paracel Islands, local authorities said on Friday, a move that may increase tension in the South China Sea.

“This is the first time a Chinese ship has hit and sunk boats in our commune this year,” said Nguyen Van Hai, a local official from the Quang Ngai province, a few hundred kilometres from the Paracel Islands.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territory and has built artificial islands with military-capable facilities over reefs and outcrops in the area, which are also claimed in part by Vietnam.

...Two Vietnamese fishing boats attempted to rescue the eight fishermen, but they were also detained with their ships on the island, state media said, quoting local sources.

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3078286/chinese-ship-hits-and-sinks-vietnamese-fishing-boat-south

[msongs]

1. well the us navy is not gonna do anything, being in port with the virus, so good time to act out nt

[icymist]

2. Look at the 'Active Cases' on this map.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

China is recovering while the West is being hammered. Russia's cases are doubling every few days so they're about to get busy as well. Now the US has just advertised to the world that we're down an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific. Keep an eye on the South China Sea.