Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in India last week. His visit comes at a time when tensions are rising in Asia as China takes steps to assert its control of the South China Sea after its claims were rejected by an international tribunal at The Hague last month. Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan has called for a "people's war at sea" to push back against the threats to Chinese claims. In a speech last week, he warned of maritime security threats and called for increased preparations for what he termed a "people's war at sea" in order to "safeguard sovereignty."
More significant are attempts by China to change it laws, with its Supreme Court saying that people caught illegally fishing in Chinese waters could be jailed for up to a year, thereby defining disputed waters as including the country's exclusive economic zones.
Over the past few weeks, all three Chinese naval fleets have taken to the sea to practice for a "sudden, cruel and short" conflict. Beijing has also begun to fly bomber and fighter aircraft near disputed islands in the South China Sea. It has announced that it will hold joint naval drills in the waters with Russia in September, terming the exercise "routine" and not directed at any third party.
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