Early this year, the Guardian reported on an annual exercise: “a Chinese-dominated flotilla big enough to be seen from space pillages the rich marine life on Mile 201, a largely ungoverned part of the South Atlantic off Argentina.”
Environmentalists are worried about the squid and other marine life. Others are worried about the destructive effect on the livelihoods of local fishermen. Argentina has been doing what it can to keep Chinese fleets at least out of its exclusive economic zone. But what happens outside the zone affects stocks within the zone.
The United States and Argentina are also worried about the possibility that vessels of the fleets are gathering intelligence (Reuters, May 13, 2026).
Argentina has had suspicions that some Chinese fishing boats were equipped with antennas that are inconsistent with fishing activities, said Marcelo Rozas Garay, who served as vice minister of defense in 2025.
“We think what they were looking for in reality was information or intercepting communication,” he said, without providing details about the antennas.
Buenos Aires and Washington have also discussed Chinese vessels that Argentina observed moving in ways which indicate that they could be mapping the continental shelf for undersea resources, said Juan Battaleme, the defense secretary for international affairs under Milei until December 2025.
Under international law, only Argentina can explore and exploit resources on its shelf.
Reuters stresses that the suspicions of intelligence gathering by the fleets are only suspicions so far. My suspicion, justified by all that has happened up to now, is that CCP will always do whatever it can to expand its influence and abuses globally.
