China called on Russia on Thursday to explain how a Chinese cargo ship sank in Russian waters after reports it was fired on by the Russian military.
The "New Star" was held at the Russian port of Nakhodka earlier this month, suspected of involvement in smuggling, before it left without permission last week, the China Daily said,
Seems pretty straight forward to me. The Chinese ship was suspected of smuggling and taken into port. It htne tried to escape without permission and the Russian Navy opened fire.
But what were they smuggling?
Maybe they found out that Russian warships are rather slow, and if they escape and have enough lead time, Russian ship could not catch up to them. I suppose it all went as Chinese hoped, except that Russians decided to open fire, which they thought they did not, considering Russia's close relationship with China.