A Chinese research ship and its escort, which operated for nearly a month in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea and prompted a rare protest from Hanoi, left those waters late on Monday.
Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong 10 began sailing in Vietnam’s EEZ on May 7, at times flanked by a dozen ships, regularly crossing gas and oil fields operated by Russian companies, according to vessel-tracking data.
The Chinese vessel and its entourage of more than half a dozen ships began their journey back to China’s Hainan island, leaving Vietnam’s EEZ around midnight, the data showed.
Asked about the movements of the ships, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment about the return to Hainan.
“It is legitimate and legal for Chinese research vessels to carry out normal research activities in waters under its jurisdiction, and there is no such issue about entering the exclusive economic zones of other countries,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) told a regular press conference yesterday.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.
Under international law, ships are allowed to sail through foreign EEZs, but unauthorized surveys are not permitted and China’s operations in the South China Sea have long been problematic for countries in the region, as Beijing claims most of the energy-rich sea, including foreign EEZs.
In a rare public protest on May 25, the Vietnamese government urged the Chinese research ship and its escort to leave the country’s EEZ after a visit to Hanoi by Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.
The incident comes amid what Washington has described as “growing aggressiveness” from Beijing, following close encounters between US and Chinese ships and jets in the area.
At 3am GMT yesterday, the Chinese research ship was seen approaching Hainan, said Ray Powell, who leads Stanford University’s Project Myoushu on the South China Sea.
Vietnam’s fisheries surveillance ships turned back after the Chinese vessel and its escort left Vietnam’s EEZ around midnight Vietnam time, Powell added.
Vietnam-based researcher Van Pham, who heads independent non-profit South China Sea Chronicle Initiative, confirmed the ships had left Vietnam’s EEZ, but added that Hainan was not the research ship’s home port, and after a break there it could resume activities in the South China Sea.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS