Examples of the obstruction of free flow of trade in international waters please. I have not heard of any actual incidents of that
Sure. Here's just a few to try to stay under the character count limit that I got from Wikipedia (
LINK) because it's easy:
8 January 2005 – Chinese ships fired upon two Vietnamese fishing boats from Thanh Hóa Province, killing 9 people and detaining one ship with 8 people on Hainan Island. Chinese Foreign Ministry claim they were pirates that opened fire first and obtained confession from the arrested members.
March 2009 – The Pentagon reported that Chinese ships harassed a US surveillance ship. According to the report, five Chinese vessels "shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity to USNS Impeccable, in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters." The crew members aboard the vessels, two of which were within 50 feet, waved Chinese flags and told the US ship to leave the area, the statement said.
25 February 2011 – The Chinese frigate Dongguan fired three shots at Philippine fishing boats in the vicinity of Jackson atoll. The shots were fired after the frigate instructed the fishing boats to leave, and one of those boats experienced trouble removing its anchor.
26 May 2011 – The clash involved the Vietnamese Binh Minh 02 oil and gas survey ship and three Chinese maritime patrol vessels occurred 120 km (80 miles) off the south-central coast of Vietnam and some 600 km south of China's Hainan island. Vietnam says the Chinese boats deliberately cut the survey ship's cables in Vietnamese waters. China denies the allegation. The event stirred up unprecedented anti-China protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.
9 June 2011 – A Norwegian-flagged seismic conducting ship hired by Vietnam Oil & Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) clashed with another three Chinese fishery patrol vessels within Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone. Vietnam once again claimed its exploration cables were deliberately cut.
April 2012 – The Philippine warship Gregorio del Pilar was involved in a standoff with two Chinese surveillance vessels in the Scarborough Shoal, an area claimed by both nations. The Philippine navy had been trying to arrest Chinese fishermen who were allegedly taking government-protected marine species from the area, but the surveillance boats prevented them.
16 April 2012 – The Chinese Foreign Ministry urged a Philippine archaeological ship to immediately leave the waters of the Scarborough Shoal, which China claims is an "integral part of its territory."
7 May 2012 – Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying called a meeting with Alex Chua, Chargé d'affaires of the Philippine Embassy in China, to make a serious representation over the current incident at the Scarborough Shoal. China also warned its nationals against travel to the Philippines and raised trade barriers on imported pineapples and bananas.
16 May 2012 – A fishing ban in the Scarborough Shoal by the governments of China and the Philippines became effective. By mid June 2012, both nations had withdrawn their vessels from the waters around the disputed Shoal due to the arrival of the typhoon season. By July 2012, China had erected a barrier to the entrance of the shoal, and that vessels belonging to Beijing's China Marine Surveillance and Fisheries Law Enforcement Command were observed nearby the disputed shoal; as of December 2012, Chinese government ships remain around the shoal and have been turning away Filipino vessels; additionally, China has stated it would interdict, and board, any foreign vessel that entered waters it claimed. China later clarified that it would only conduct interdiction, and boarding, vessels within 12 nautical miles for which China has announced baselines.
There are dozens and dozens of examples on the internet that stretch all the way to today that can be found rather easily.
