The June 9 incident involving the sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a Chinese vessel in Recto (Reed) Bank highlights the need to focus attention on Beijing's maritime militia, which is intent on flooding the West Philippine Sea with so many boats to prevent other fishing boats to access these waters, an analyst said Thursday. Gregory Poling, director of Washington-based think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said Chinese maritime militia and Chinese Coast Guard vessels have "harassed, rammed and beat up" Vietnamese fishermen in the Paracels regularly. He noted that a few months ago, crew members of a Chinese fishing boat forcibly boarded and stole the catch off a Vietnamese fishing boat.

Beijing running illegal paramilitary force at sea: analyst. (2019, June 21). Daily Guardian, p. 14.