BEIJING: China has deployed a large fisheries patrol boat to a group of disputed islands in the South China Sea, a state newspaper said Sunday, a week after a U.S. Navy vessel and Chinese ships had a confrontation in those waters.
The Beijing News said the vessel, China Yuzheng 311, would reach the Paracel Islands on Sunday to patrol China's exclusive economic zone and strengthen fishery administration in the South China Sea.
The ship, a converted Chinese naval rescue vessel, was deployed Tuesday from Guangzhou in southern China, it said. Calls to China's Fisheries Administration rang unanswered Sunday.
U.S. defense officials have accused Chinese vessels of harassing an unarmed U.S. Navy sub-hunting ship last Sunday. China said the ship was operating illegally in its exclusive economic zone. Beijing views almost the entire South China Sea as its territory.
The largely uninhabited Spratly and Paracel islands and surrounding waters are believed to have large oil and natural gas reserves. They straddle busy sea lanes and are rich fishing grounds.
On Wednesday, China protested a new Philippine law affirming sovereignty over parts of the Spratly islands and Scarborough Shoal. It said it "has indisputable sovereignty" over the territories and the Philippine claim to them "is illegal and invalid."
Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim all or part of about 100 Spratly islets, reefs and atolls. The dispute has long been considered one of Asia's potential flash points. source
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