evidence: October 13, 2020 By Ryan McNamaraTensions in the South China Sea increased last April when a Chinese coast guard ship sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Paracel Islands—a fiercely disputed territory in the South China Sea. Disputes over island territories in the region have endured for decades, with China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei all making overlapping territorial claims. The region is rich in natural resources and biodiversity, holding vast fish stocks and an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 cubic feet of natural gas. [...] Tensions in the South China Sea increased last April when a Chinese coast guard ship sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Paracel Islands—a fiercely disputed territory in the South China Sea. Disputes over island territories in the region have endured for decades, with China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei all making overlapping territorial claims. The region is rich in natural resources and biodiversity, holding vast fish stocks and an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 cubic feet of natural gas. [...] Aside from creating manmade islands, Vietnam and China have also increased commercial fishing to strengthen territorial claims. China has expanded its fishing practices in the Spratly and Paracel Islands in order to bolster historical claims to the territories, going so far as to pay fishermen to maintain presence in its Spratly outposts. The use of fishing vessels as political pawns has led to conflicts such as the sinking of the Vietnamese fishing boat earlier this year and the arrests of several Chinese fishermen for illegal fishing in Vietnam in 2001.