China Fishing Fleet Defied U.S. in Standoff on the High Seas

China Fishing Fleet Defied U.S. in Standoff on the High Seas

By JOSHUA GOODMAN

Source: Associated Press

11/1/2022

Credit: Petty Officer 3rd Class Hunter Schnabel/U.S. Coast Guard via AP

This summer, as China fired missiles into the sea off Taiwan to protest House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island, a much different kind of geopolitical standoff was taking shape in another corner of the Pacific Ocean.

Thousands of miles away, a heavily-armed U.S. Coast Guard cutter sailed up to a fleet of a few hundred Chinese squid-fishing boats not far from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. Its mission: inspect the vessels for any signs of illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.