US blasts China for ‘unlawful claims’ in South China Sea during pandemic

The US is slamming the Communist Chinese government for expanding “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea, while the world is distracted by the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

The State Department responded to last week’s collision of a Chinese coastguard ship and a Vietnamese fishing vessel near the disputed Paracel Islands, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the US was “seriously concerned” by reports of the incident, which occurred around midnight Thursday, where eight Vietnamese crew members fell overboard as their vessel sank.

The Chinese vessel retrieved them and turned them over to Vietnamese authorities, claiming the Vietnamese boat rammed the Chinese vessel before sinking.

“This incident is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea,” Ortagus said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

She said the Chinese Communist Party should “remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.”

The statement also pointed out that, since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has announced new research stations on its military bases at Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef, and landed special military aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef.

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