AP: China fishing fleet defied U.S in standoff on high seas

UNDATED (AP)- This summer, as China was protesting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, a much different geopolitical standoff was taking shape in another corner of the Pacific. An armed U.S. Coast Guard cutter sailed up to hundreds of Chinese squid-fishing boats off Ecuador seeking to make an inspection for signs of illegal fishing. But three of the boats sped away and another turned aggressively toward the U.S. cutter, forcing it to take evasive action. Nobody was hurt in the confrontation reported for the first time by The Associated Press, but it represented a breach of international maritime protocol that has inflamed tensions between the two nations.