China Ramps Up South China Sea Provocations as US Battles CCP Virus

[TomSea]

China Ramps Up South China Sea Provocations as US Battles CCP Virus
By Chriss Street
March 30, 2020 Updated: March 30, 2020
News Analysis

China has sent its marine militia into the South China Sea to engage in a series of military provocations as the United States battles the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM), referred to as “little blue men,” began in January to move vessels through the 34-mile-long Union Banks, a sunken atoll in the center of the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands chain, according to vessel-tracking and satellite imagery reviewed by Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Despite the United Nations recognition of claims by Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan, China asserts that it holds exclusive rights to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, encompassing an area 1.4 million square miles in the Pacific Ocean that holds up to 22 billion barrels of oil, and 290 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Read more at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/china-ramps-south-china-sea-provocations-as-us-battles-ccp-virus_3290780.html