The row over the maritime collision is unfolding against a backdrop of rising tension over China's military spending, simmering historical resentments and competing claims to territories and possible energy sources.
Network Rail workers have voted in favour of a UK-wide strike in a row over pay, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has said.
It all stands in contrast to China's rows with other Asian nations over maritime claims, as well as its denouncing of protesters in Hong Kong (see article) calling for more democracy.
There'll be a water carnival with a raft race, a maritime exhibition at the Isles of Scilly Museum, taster rowing sessions, guided walks, a pirate cruise for kids, live outdoor music and sea shanties in the pub.
Local maritime pilots, believing the fleet to be British, rowed out to the ships and were seized, providing the French with guides to the best landing sites.
My maritime experience extended as far as an hour in a rowing boat in Colwyn Bay.
Another is Sir Creek, a muddy puddle by the Arabian Sea that remembers a British official who settled a row about firewood there and which should mark the still-undelimited maritime border between India and Pakistan.
Workers on Virgin Trains East Coast will stage a 24-hour strike next week in a row over jobs and conditions, and members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will walk out on 3 October.
