Photo: China's growing military influence in the South China Sea is raising tensions in the region. (Reuters)
ABC News Online: Chinese warships enter East Indian Ocean amid Maldives crisis, indebted Pacific nations alarmed.
Eleven Chinese warships reportedly sailed into the East Indian Ocean this month, amid a constitutional crisis and state of emergency in the Maldives.
A fleet of destroyers and at least one frigate, a 30,000-tonne amphibious transport dock and three support tankers entered the Indian Ocean, news portal Sina.com.cn said, without linking the deployment to the crisis in the Maldives or giving a reason.
"If you look at warships and other equipment, the gap between the Indian and Chinese navy is not large," Sina.com.cn said.
It did not say when the fleet was deployed or for how long.
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WNU Editor: The Maldives owes China an enormous amount of money, and there are claims that China (in payment of these debts) is demanding land in return .... Maldives faces Chinese 'land grab' over unpayable debts, ex-leader warns (Nikkei Asian Review). The Chinese have denied these claims, but this Chinese deployment of ships .... and it was a deployment that was rushed .... occurred when opposition leaders in Maldives began requesting an intervention from foreign powers (mainly India) to stop the political crisis in the country .... Maldives' Political Crisis Deepens With Opposition Leaders Calling For A Foreign Intervention (February 6, 2018).
