The Financial Times reports that the Chinese container ship Heng Yan 9, owned by Guangxi Changhai Shipping Company and registered under the Panamanian flag, has entered the port of Sevastopol in the annexed Crimean Peninsula. This is unprecedented, as Chinese ships have previously avoided these ports.
According to the Ukrainian presidential office, the ship stopped in Sevastopol in June and August, and satellite images again confirmed its presence in the port in September. Journalists have noted that the ship’s crew repeatedly reported false data via transponders to conceal its location.
These incidents coincide with the launch of a new cargo route initiated by Russia, through which goods from the occupied Ukrainian territories are transported to ports in Crimea for further export.
The Ukrainian embassy in Beijing had already filed a complaint with the Chinese authorities in June. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded by saying that it was advisable to avoid the occupied territories, but that each case would be considered individually.
Western countries imposed sanctions on Crimean ports back in 2014. China did not join them, but its ships have so far avoided such visits.
