China has drilled deep in the South China Sea to retrieve sediment core from the seabed, state media has reported, amid tensions over disputed waters with rival claimants Taiwan and the Philippines, as the United States increases its naval presence in the region.
Chinese scientists on a marine research vessel used China’s homemade Sea Bull II drilling system to obtain a sediment core 231 metres (757 feet) long at a depth of 2,060m (6,760ft), according to the official Xinhua news agency on Thursday.
