Her fishing fleet China becomes a new geopolitical hotbed of tension between Washington And Beijingnotes the Financial Times in an article.

China’s overseas fishing industry is by far the largest in the world in terms of both the volume of the catch and the size of the Chinese fleet, which is estimated to be around 10,000 seagoing vessels.

Environmental and human rights organizations have occasionally criticized the Chinese fishing industry, which they accused of fishing for protected/endangered species And Violation of an individual’s rights.

However, last year the fight against alleged illegal, underground and anarchic The Chinese fishery became the basis of the policy adopted by the US administration under Joe Biden in the Indo-Pacific region to limit the alleged Chinese “overexpansion”.

In this context USA, Japan, Australia And India announced last year a collaborative initiative to more effectively (via satellites) detect illegal fishing incidents in the Pacific, with the ultimate goal of limiting and eliminating them.

Last December USA they imposed sanctions in two large Chinese fishing companies (Dalian Ocean Fishing Company, Pingtan Marine Enterprise), while the US Coast Guard is simultaneously strengthening cooperation with the forces of other countries in the Pacific.

As US-China relations have sunk to their lowest point in decades, fishing is becoming an increasingly hot point of tension between the two military superpowerswrites Edward White in FT.

For Washington, the problem of illegal, illegal and unregulated Chinese fishing is “national security issue“, How it’s called.

On the one hand, these are issues of maintaining the viability of fish stocks, protecting the marine environment and limiting unfair competition.

At the same time, however, What worries Washington about Chinese fishing vessels is their dual use, as they not only serve commercial/fishing purposes, but also act as an alternative “coast guard” or naval force that supports the official Chinese navy in their missions. and “stabilize” the Chinese. presence in disputed maritime zones.

For its part, Beijing, which supports its fishing industry with generous subsidies, dismisses the allegations as false or malicious.

Going on the counteroffensive, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accuses the US of sending its own fishing boats to areas outside its borders.

According to FT