Chinese warship tried to detain Indian Navy’s ship in the South China Sea. According to The Financial Times , it is the first maritime incident of this kind between the two countries.
Although the mentioned incident occurred on July 22, it leaked out just recently. Indian ship INS Airavat left Vietnamese port and was 44 nautical miles off the shore when the Chinese warship requested Indian commanding officer to identify himself.
The Chinese said Indian ship was within territorial waters of China. Meanwhile, other parties insist that the incident happened in neutral waters. It has not been reported what the incident ended up with.
According to FT , Beijing regards the South China Sea as internal waters and does not recognize territorial claims of other countries located on the shore. Apart of Vietnam, they are Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan. Such stance of China has previously resulted in conflicts with Philippines and Vietnam.
The Pentagon released a report last week and the authors drew attention to China’s increasing maritime ambitions, informs AFP . Official Beijing says buildup of naval force pursues exclusively defensive objectives.
[mappress]
Source: Rusnavy, September 5, 2011;