China’s Hainan Province Maritime Administration issued a notice on March 26 banning ships from traveling through the eastern area of the island on March 29-30 to serve military exercises.
The announcement was made on the same day that the Chinese military sent an unprecedentedly large group of 20 aircraft to attack the island of Taiwan.
Location of Chinese military exercises (yellow).
China defended that its fleet was fishing vessels `sheltering from bad weather` in the area.
The Philippines then sent warships, coast guard ships and military aircraft to patrol the area to monitor Chinese ships.
`China’s exercises contribute to increasing tensions. Although the current situation is relatively calm when everyone is restrained, there is no guarantee that this trend will continue,` Collin Koh, an expert at the School of
According to Koh, China may be `sending a deterrent signal to the Philippines and even the United States if they intend to intervene` in the group of ships anchored at a reef in the East Sea.
The Chinese fleet illegally anchored near Vietnam’s Sinh Ton Dong Island.
At a press conference on March 25, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that the activities of Chinese ships within the territorial waters of Sinh Ton Dong in the Truong Sa archipelago of Vietnam have violated Vietnam’s sovereignty.
`Vietnam requests that China stop violating, respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, willingly implement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, strictly comply with the DOC, especially the obligation to restrain and not cause trouble.`
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Vietnam’s maritime law enforcement forces are fulfilling their obligations stipulated in Vietnamese laws and international law.
Landing ship Con Lon Son and logistics ship Tra Can Ho exercise in the East Sea, January 14.
China has recently increased its activities in the East Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea.
Olivia