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A Chinese cargo ship was fired by a Russian cruiser and sank off the water last Sunday near Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok. Eight out of 16 crew members on board were saved while the others remain missing.
The New Star was pursued out of port in Nakhodka in the Siberian Far East on Sunday by a Russian naval vessel which believed it was involved in smuggling. The pursuing ship fired at least 500 rounds, forcing it to turn back to port, but it sank on the way.
The incident will cast a shadow over generally improving relations between the two countries, who have a long history of mutual distrust following border skirmishes in the 1960s. The two signed a major oil-for-loans deal earlier this week.
Russia and China have drawn closer in recent years, largely as a strategic alliance to counterbalance what both see as bullying American hegemony.
With four central Asian nations they have set up a regional security grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which some see as a future counterweight to Nato and which is due to meet next month in Moscow to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Originally posted by FredT
Really speaks to the gunner of the New Soviet navy. 500 rounds? Sheesh
Originally posted by FredT
Really speaks to the gunner of the New Soviet navy. 500 rounds? Sheesh
Originally posted by thegreatobserver
This story tells you one thing: don't mess with Russians!
They don't even ask....
Oh, this is gonna be interesting indeed!
Originally posted by sy.gunson
If it was ever going to be an international incident it would be all over CNN and BBC by now.
Originally posted by maloy
Russian news are reporting that the reason why the Russian Border Guards intercepted the ship was because it left the Russian port of Nakhodka without permission. In doing so the ship's crew was in violation of international law, and had to stop and return to port immediately when contacted by the border guards.
Legally speaking the Russian border ships had every right to fire on the vessel after it did not heed multiple warnings and flares. China or whoever operated that ship have no legal recourse against Russian.
What is not clear is what exactly caused the ship to sink. It is very very unlikely that flares, tracers, or even machinegun rounds could cause a ship of that size to sink. Far more plausible is that it sank due to bad weather conditions.
Originally posted by FredT
Really speaks to the gunner of the New Soviet navy. 500 rounds? Sheesh
There is no New Soviet navy. Nor was this ship intercepted or fired on by a Russian navy. I have no idea why the article mentions "Russian cruiser" either.
It was the Russian Border Guards who intercepted the ship and fired. They are not part of the navy, and they do not operate the same equipment. They mostly have patrol boats armed with heavy machine guns.