How will China respond as US expands foreign ship seizures?
The question is whether high-seas US actions will alarm Beijing into deploying naval safeguards or prompt similar moves in Taiwan Strait
In November, a cargo ship travelling to Iran from China was reportedly raided by a US special operations team in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka and its cargo of dual military-civilian use goods confiscated.
It was the first known US interception of outbound cargo from China in years.
Then earlier this month, US forces boarded and seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera in the north Atlantic, citing violations of its sanctions on Venezuela.
A series of other seizures followed, raising eyebrows over what appeared to be an increasingly aggressive approach by the White House.
US seizes oil tanker off Venezuela