TOKYO — North Korea’s open-sea transfers of petroleum products to its ships in the East China Sea and elsewhere are getting more scrutiny from Japan and six other nations. The Regina, which sailed from the Taiwan Strait to Okinawa, conducted patrols in the high seas of the East China Sea from June 17 to 25. Using waters off ChinaThe SDF have observed 20 instances of what it believes were open-sea smuggling in the East China Sea. While initially the open-sea transfers took place in the middle of the East China Sea, the sites have been moving southward and closer to the Chinese mainland. SDF intelligence-gathering aircraft that monitor boat movements have had to turn back after being approached by Chinese military fighters, government sources said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 15, 2019 06:56 UTC