Beijing wants control over all waters

Off the Vietnamese coast, Ly Son is a small fishing port, apparently quiet, which is in fact heart of a ruthless battle. A few meters away, the main fishing area is claimed by both China and Vietnam. Vietnamese ships that dare to venture there are regularly attacked by the Chinese ships. Van Loc Nguyen, a Vietnamese fisherman, almost paid the price a few months ago. “When the Chinese ships appeared, everyone remained holed up in the cabin. They were very heavily armed, so we didn’t dare go out. The ship that hit us fled immediately, the others stayed where they were to watch if we were going to sink.“

The South China Sea, vast as seven times the size of France, is fiercely disputed. A third of the world’s commercial traffic passes through it. This corridor allows China to send its goods to Europe. But Beijing has claimed the entire area for several years, in defiance of international law. The Philippines is also in conflict with China. There, the fishermen have decided to resist and regularly defy the prohibitions set by Beijing.