07/05/2013
China has sent one of its largest fishing fleets on record to the disputed Spratly (Truong Sa) Islands, AFP quoted Chinese media on Tuesday, amid tensions over Beijing's increasingly aggressive claims over the entire East Sea.
Analysts say by doing so, China is sending a message that it will continue to exploit fishing resources in the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea.
“It is a way of asserting jurisdiction over the area,” said Mark Valencia, a Hawaii-based expert on the dispute.
A flotilla including 30 fishing vessels and two large transport and supply ships left China's southern province of Hainan Monday for a 40-day trip to the Spratlys, AFP quoted a China Daily report as saying.
Chinese fishing boats regularly travel to the Spratlys – an archipelago claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei – but the fleet dispatched Monday matches China’s biggest ever infiltration of the Spratlys.
China will make "every effort to guarantee the fleet's safety," the China Daily report quoted an official from China’s department of ocean and fisheries as saying.
Read more at Thanh Nien News
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