U.S. Coast Guard is helping Ecuador protect against Chinese and Russian fishing incursions

[Judi Lynn]

Apr 7, 2023

The U.S. Coast Guard is beginning to spend a lot more time away from American shores.

The Biden administration is planning to aggressively deploy the service far beyond U.S. waters to help contain threats posed by Russia and China. Senior Pentagon and Coast Guard officials have outlined in recent weeks an ambitious program to use the Guard’s “white hull” fleet on missions ranging from better policing the Arctic against Russian intrusions to helping island nations in the Pacific shore up the defenses of their maritime borders.

Coast Guard cutters are also deploying in international waters to guard against illegal Chinese fishing, which is impacting countries such as the Philippines and Ecuador.

. . .

That has turned the waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador into an unlikely flash point in the rivalry between Washington and Beijing. There the Coast Guard has been policing against illegal fishing under the flag of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization. Massive Chinese fleets that fish marlin and squid are the primary culprits of illegal commerce in the area, according to U.S. officials.

More:
https://cuencahighlife.com/u-s-coast-guard-is-helping-ecuador-protect-against-chinese-and-russian-fishing-incurions/

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Why the rush?????

You may well recall China has been prowling around the water near the Galapagos for a long time, and was discovered to have been sitting out there at night with its fleets' lights OUT so they wouldn't be detected so easily. If I remember, it started with an all out assault on the squid population.

If China is doing this to Ecuador, god only knows how long it's been doing this elsewhere! Clearly they know they shouldn't or they wouldn't bother to try to hide.

[Irish_Dem]

1. China and Russia think that everything in the world belongs to them.