China has begun an offensive to take control of the South China Sea while COVID-19 grips the world [news.com.au] after the US Navy USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group left the area to manage onboard virus issues.
A Vietnamese fishing boat has been rammed and sunk. Military aircraft have landed at its artificial-island fortresses.
Meanwhile, the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group has retreated from the contested waterway in an unscheduled return to Guam – with hundreds of cases of COVID-19 on board.
Vietnam has lodged a protest with Beijing, demanding its military Coast Guard be “strictly disciplined” after it had “hindered, rammed and sunk” the fishing vessel.