China denies ‘ghost ships’ in South Pacific Ocean

Beijing, while blatantly denying espionage activities through fishing vessels states Washington should stop spreading rumors to mislead people and disseminating false information everywhere and stop sowing discord among other countries

Special Correspondent

@the_news_21

New Delhi: Almost a month after it was exposed as to how Chinese fishing vessels, allegedly carrying out espionage operations, were violating international maritime law in the South Pacific ocean, Beijing has blatantly denied any such activity.

The incident, reported by TheNews21 featuring exclusive interaction with Ecuadorian naval intelligence officers, had witnessed around 149 Chinese fishing vessels switching off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) few nautical miles from the Galapagos Island.

This had triggered major security concerns and sounded alarms in South American nations of Ecuador and Chile. Ecuadorian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Darwin Jarrin in an official presser had announced that his men and sophisticated machines were indeed trying to locate 149 Chinese ships that had ‘cut off communications’ in the recent months. Jarrin, in his brief to international media also added that these Chinese ships had even ‘changed their names’ to avoid detection.

However, despite the official statement and red flags raised by Ecuador, and the United States, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, last week, denied the entire incident. While responding to a question raised by an international news agency, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian said that the remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo disregard the facts and confuse black and white.

“The purpose (of making such statements) is to befuddle the minds of the public and to sow discord in friendly relations between the country concerned and China. His (Pompeo’s) intention is very sinister,” Lijian told the presser while insisting that the high seas of the Southeast Pacific Ocean are traditional fishing grounds of various countries.

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“In addition to China, fishing vessels from other countries also carry out production operations in this area. As a responsible fishery country, China has always attached importance to the protection of the marine environment and marine resources and implemented the strictest control measures for fishing vessels operating overseas,” Lijian claimed.

On the aspect of the Chinese vessels turning off their AIS, maintaining radio silence, and changing names to avoid tracking, Lijian voiced that “After verification, all Chinese fishing vessels are operating normally in accordance with the law, using the Vessel Monitoring System [VMS] approved by the Regional Fisheries Management Organization, and automatically reporting their positions every hour. They have not entered the exclusive economic zone of coastal countries and have disposed of ship waste in accordance with regulations.”

The Chinese spokesperson pointed out that ‘In the list of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels published by relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organization, none is Chinese fishing vessel. In order to actively conserve marine fishery resources, as early as 1 June 2020, the Chinese side announced that starting from 2020, it will implement an autonomous fishing moratorium on parts of the high seas in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean from July to September, and on parts of the high seas in the Southeast Pacific Ocean from September to November. This has been fully affirmed by neighboring countries, including Ecuador and relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organizations.’

Commenting on the relations between Quito and Beijing, Lijian said “For a period of time, China and Ecuador have maintained close communication on fisheries cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and friendly consultation, and agreed to establish a communication mechanism, strengthen mutual notification of information, eliminate misunderstandings in a timely manner, promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and jointly safeguard fisheries production order and marine environment in relevant sea areas. China-Ecuador relations will not be interfered with or undermined by any third party.”

Taking potshots at Washington, the Chinese officer said that ‘Certain US politicians and officials should stop spreading rumors to mislead people and disseminating false information everywhere and stop sowing discord among other countries. Otherwise, they will only invite humiliation and further damage their own image.’

Meanwhile, Ecuadorian military intelligence officers insisted that in the days between July 23 – 26 July, the ‘formation broke’ with a ‘fragment of vessels’ – after which they kept ‘radio silence’, ‘lowered their flags’ and eventually ‘switched off their AIS’.