U.S. and Argentina cooperate to combat illegal fishing in China

Starting next month, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Argentine Navy will begin holding joint exercises aimed at combating China’s illegal fishing in the Atlantic.

Argentina, Chile and Peru have criticized Chinese-operated fishing vessels for conducting large-scale, unregulated and invasive fishing in their territorial waters, which the South American country says is depleting fish stocks and destroying the natural biodiversity of the southwest Atlantic. It is an important nesting area for seabirds and a feeding area for marine mammals.

The Coast Guard will send its destroyers USS Jamesworking with Argentine vessels to curb these fishing practices.

Data from the non-governmental organization Global Fisheries Watch shows that there are nearly 3,000 deep-water fishing vessels operating under the Chinese flag around the world, of which about 400 are in the southwest Atlantic, often targeting Argentine squid and Patagonian marlin. The NGO said Chinese ships’ activity time in the southwest Atlantic increased from 61,727 hours per 500 square kilometers in 2013 to 384,046 hours in 2023.

Since 1986, Argentine authorities have seized 80 foreign-flagged vessels fishing in its waters, including sinking Chinese and Taiwanese vessels.

The upcoming joint U.S. and Argentinian patrols are aimed at combating illegal, unreported and unregulated, or IUU, fishing activities primarily conducted by Chinese fishing vessels and are part of ongoing global efforts to strengthen maritime security partnerships. In 2020, the United States launched a new strategy to combat IUU fishing, and the Coast Guard is spearheading the effort. In South America, China has strengthened cooperation with Ecuador, Peru, Chile and other countries.

Analysts say the Coast Guard’s cooperation with Argentina, as well as recent visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA Director William Burns, reflect President Javier Milei’s election in November. The new administration’s shift from China to the United States.

Gabriela Ippolito O’Donnell, professor of political science at Argentina’s Universidad Nacional San Martín, said: “The oil-producing province of Patagonia has warned of the serious situation of illegal fishing. The president’s stance on China is very clear.” VOA Mandarin.

“There is no question that President Milley is aligned with the United States, even more so if Donald Trump wins the election. He has shown signs of a 180-degree turn on all aspects of foreign policy, including the military. .”

O’Donnell said the decision to boycott China’s illegal fishing practices was more than a symbolic move.

“Argentina’s foreign relations have undergone an epochal change,” O’Donnell said. “Of course, the Argentine military and the political opposition will have a say in the process of military rapprochement with the United States, but the initiative today belongs to President Milley.”

In January, Mire authorized U.S. troops to enter Argentine territory – a sharp contrast from three years ago, when U.S. patrols in the South Atlantic led to a conflict with Argentina’s then-President Alberto Fernandez.

Michael Paarberg, an assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the decision was Mire’s way of deliberately breaking with his rival, his immediate predecessor Fernandez and former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The latter has reached multiple military cooperation agreements with China. .

“We are seeing closer ties between the U.S. and Argentina under the new Mire administration than they were under the Fernandez administration, which was skeptical of the U.S.,” Paarlberg told VOA Mandarin. .” “Military cooperation with the United States is a way for Milley to fulfill all the policy promises of his predecessor.”

However, analysts said that Mire’s move did not represent a complete break in China-Argentina relations, but was out of Argentina’s interest in diversifying international relations, and fishing in Argentina’s territorial waters provided the country with a bargaining chip. China remains Argentina’s largest trading partner.

Fabricio Fonseca, assistant professor of diplomacy at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, told VOA Chinese: “It is too early to talk about major reforms in Argentina’s foreign policy under Javier Mire, especially relations with the United States and China.” “We also need to consider other geoeconomic trends and events before predicting permanent changes in Buenos Aires’ relations with Beijing.”

Evie Steele contributed to this story.