From the waters of the Pacific Ocean to the coasts of Antarctica and Africa, China’s fishing fleet is emerging as a new geopolitical flashpoint between Washington and Beijing.
The Chinese distant water industry is by far the world’s biggest in terms of catch volume and fleet size, and is estimated to have about 10,000 vessels worldwide. It has long drawn criticism from conservationists for its pillage of endangered species and from human rights experts for abuse of workers on the high seas.
Over the past year, however, a crackdown on the industry has become a pillar of Joe Biden’s broader Indo-Pacific policy designed to push back against China. With US-China relations at their lowest point in decades, fishing has become an increasingly acute point of tension between the military superpowers, experts have warned.