China pledges to board ships in disputed seas
China pledges to board ships in disputed seas
Date November 29, 2012 - 3:50PM
Police in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan will board and search ships which enter into what China considers its territorial waters in the disputed South China Sea, state media said.
The South China Sea is Asia's biggest potential military trouble spot with several Asian countries claiming sovereignty.
From January 1, Hainan police will have the authority to board and seize control of foreign ships which "illegally enter" Chinese waters and order them to change course or stop sailing, the China Daily reported.
"Activities such as entering the island province's waters without permission, damaging coastal defence facilities and engaging in publicity that threatens national security are illegal," the English-language newspaper said.
"If foreign ships or crew members violate regulations, Hainan police have the right to take over the ships or their communication systems, under the revised regulations," it added.
China's assertion of sovereignty over the stretch of water off its south coast and to the east of mainland Southeast Asia has set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to parts.
China occasionally detains fishermen, mostly from Vietnam, who it accuses of operating illegally in Chinese waters, though generally frees them quite quickly.
Hainan, which likes to style itself as China's answer to Hawaii or Bali with its resorts and beaches, is the province responsible for administering the country's extensive claims to the myriad islets and atolls in the South China Sea.
The newspaper said that the government will also send new maritime surveillance ships to join the fleet responsible for patrolling the South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas and straddling shipping lanes between East Asia and Europe and the Middle East.
The stakes have risen in the area as the U.S. military shifts its attention and resources back to Asia, emboldening its long-time ally the Philippines and former foe Vietnam to take a tougher stance against Beijing.
China has further angered the Philippines and Vietnam by issuing new passports showing a map depicting China's claims to the disputed waters.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-pl...#ixzz2DbmSTopj
New Chinese Law Allows for Search, Expulsion of Foreign Ships
China will soon allow border police to board and search foreign ships that enter what Beijing considers its territorial waters in the disputed South China Sea.
In a move likely to raise regional tensions, state media say police in the southern island province of Hainan will soon be authorized to "land on, check, seize, and expel foreign ships" that enter the area illegally.
The official China Daily says "illegal" activities include entering the province's waters without permission and "engaging in publicity that endangers China's national security." It says the new rules will take effect January 1.
Hainan, China's southernmost province, administers nearly two million square kilometers of the sea. In July, the Chinese military angered its neighbors by setting up a garrison in Hainan's newly established Sansha City, in an effort to enforce its claims in the region.
Many of China's rival claimants, which include the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, are concerned about what they see as Beijing's increasing assertiveness in defending its claims in the energy-rich South China Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in a regular briefing Thursday that China has the right to implement the new regulations.
"Carrying out maritime management according to law is the justified right of a sovereign country," said Hong.
The China Daily also said new maritime surveillance ships will soon join Beijing's South China Sea patrol fleet, which has been expanded following recent high-profile standoffs with the Philippines and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Thursday called on China to withdraw three ships from the site of an April standoff.
Del Rosario told ABS-CBN television that Beijing has not fulfilled its promise to remove its ships from the disputed Scarborough Shoal, as agreed by both countries six months ago.
http://www.chinanews.net/index.php/s...-Foreign-Ships
ASEAN head warns China plans to board ships in disputed sea area could 'escalate tens
ASEAN head Surin Pitsuwan has expressed concerns that China's plan to board ships in disputed areas of the South China Sea could escalate tensions in the region.
ASEAN's Secretary-General Pitsuwan said that Beijing's plan was "a very serious turn of events".
On Thursday China said that it granted its border patrol police the power to board and search ships in the area.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the region.
According to the BBC, state media said patrols in the southern island province of Hainan would be able to board foreign ships that stopped in its waters or violated other regulations.
The regulation allows police "to board, seize and expel foreign ships illegally entering the province's sea areas," the Global Times newspaper said on Wednesday.
These activities include "illegal landing" and "carrying out publicity campaigns that endanger China's national security", it added.
According to the report, China's announcement comes amid an ongoing row over a map on new Chinese passports show disputed areas in the South China Sea as Chinese territory.
http://www.chinanews.net/index.php/s...alate-tensions
Philippines Condemns China's Plan to Search, Seize Vessels in South China Sea
The Philippines says a plan by China's Hainan province to stop and search foreign ships deemed to be illegally in the South China Sea is a "gross violation" of international law and hampers freedom of navigation.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs is demanding clarification from China over the plans. The department said in a statement it is "especially concerned" by media reports that starting next year, Hainan police will have authority to board, search and possibly seize foreign ships they determine have illegally entered Chinese-claimed waters .
The statement says that since China claims practically the entire sea, this sort of action would pose a "direct threat to the entire international community" and violates the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Philippine Congressman Walden Bello, who has been vocal in opposing China's claim, calls it a "flagrant violation of international law."
"Basically this is one more step in terms of the really, very, very dangerous escalation- this is a dangerous escalation- of the illegal claim of the Chinese government," said Bello.
Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon of the Kalayaan Group of Islands, which are the Philippines' claimed parts in the Spratlys, also calls the move dangerous. While Hainan province is two day's boat ride northeast, he is skittish about such a plan in waters being shared by several countries.
"I'm apprehensive because if they do that then that would be for the first time, I think, very contentious because it would already impinge on our freedom of navigation," said Bito-onon.
Along with the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have claims in the sea, which has one of the world's most heavily traversed shipping routes. It is also a rich fishing ground and is believed to hold vast fossil fuel reserves.
On Friday, the secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said the Chinese action raises the level of concern and great anxiety.
Ely Ratner, Asia fellow with the Center for a New American Security, says the plan is worrisome, counter-productive on China's part and may be hard to enforce.
"They end up leading to serious pushback and diplomatic rancor from the rest of the region," said Ratner.
China's official news agency quoted a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Friday as saying the country gives great importance to freedom of navigation.
http://www.chinanews.net/index.php/s...outh-China-Sea
Indian Navy will intervene in South China sea, if required
New Delhi: The Indian Navy is practicing to operate in the South China Sea to protect its economic assets.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi Admiral D K Joshi told reporters that "Where our country's interests are involved, we will protect them and we will intervene."
The Eastern Naval Command - which looks at India's eastern sea board and likely to play a key role when the Navy is deployed in South China Sea- is also being strengthened.
Admiral Joshi said apart from three stealth frigates, the nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra and INS Jalashva, the amphibious landing ship which is also the biggest platform after INS Viraat, India's lone aircraft carrier.
The decision to use the Navy in the South China Sea comes days after Chinese state media announced that the southern Hainan province, which administers the South China Sea, approved laws giving its police the right to search vessels that pass through the waters. Also Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and India protested a map on a new Chinese passport that depicts disputed areas as belonging to China. The Philippines also issued a statement saying it wants Beijing to "clarify its reported plans to interdict ships that enter what it considers its territory in the South China Sea," the Associated Press reported over the weekend.
Admiral D K Joshi said ONGC has 4 oil exploration blocks off the coast of Vietnam. "If required we will intervene to protect (them)," he said and added that it is the navy's duty to protect India's sovereign assets. India, the Admiral said, had two basic concerns- "freedom of navigation in internal waters and protection of our internal assets."
The decision to prepare to intervene in the South China Sea indicates a huge shift in India's Maritime strategy. Previously, India had consistently maintained that Navy's area focus was the vast expanse of sea that lay between the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf and the Straits of Malacca in the East.
Acknowledging the rapid modernisation of the Chinese navy, the navy chief said "It is actually a major cause of concern for us, which we continuously evaluate and work out our options and our strategies."
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/in...equired-300388
Vietnam Adds Sea Patrols Amid Tensions With China
Vietnam is adding new patrols to protect its fishing grounds in the South China Sea after the country's state-run energy giant accused Chinese vessels of sabotaging one of its boats in the disputed waters.
State media said Tuesday the "maritime surveillance force" will have the authority to arrest crews and impose fines on foreign vessels within Vietnam's declared exclusive 370-kilometer economic zone. It will be deployed on January 25.
It comes a day after PetroVietnam said several Chinese fishing vessels cut the cables of one of its exploration vessels in the South China Sea last week. The state-run company said it later repaired the cable, but called the act a "blatant violation of Vietnamese waters."
China and Vietnam are in a long-running dispute over their competing claims in the South China Sea, and small-scale clashes occasionally break out between patrol boats or fishing vessels.
Vietnam, the Philippines and other East Asian nations accuse China of increasing aggressiveness in defending its claims in the South China Sea. China claims nearly all of the 3.5 million square-kilometer area, an important shipping route that also contains potential energy deposits.
Last week, regional tensions were raised after China announced new rules authorizing police in southern Hainan province to board and seize foreign ships it says are illegally entering its territory.
Regional power India also says it is ready to deploy naval vessels to protect its oil-exploration interests the South China Sea. Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi said Monday that his ships have the mandate to defend his country's interests in the area when necessary.
India does not have competing claims with China to the area, but its state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has a stake in a gas field off the coast of Vietnam.
Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute for International Policy says Admiral Joshi's remarks should not be seen as an overt challenge to Beijing.
"I think his remarks are primarily aimed at a domestic Indian audience, to assure them of India's naval capability and its willingness to protect its interests," he said. "I don't think, however, that India is picking a fight over this."
Medcalf says he doubts whether India would act unilaterally in the South China Sea, saying it would have difficulty in sustaining any military deployments there.
But Australian National University defense analyst John Blaxland predicts that regional tensions will continue to rise in the South China Sea, and Beijing is not likely to back down.
"The oil and gas resources that are understood to be underneath the South China Sea are potentially massive. And for a resource-starved country like China, they are too important for these little countries in Southeast Asia take from them," said Blaxland.
http://www.voanews.com/content/vietn...a/1557993.html