China pledges to board ships in disputed seas

[Swamp Wallaby]

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

[Swamp Wallaby]

The original article:


Patrols in Hainan get more clout

Updated: 2012-11-28 23:02

By Huang Yiming in Haikou and Wang Qian in Beijing (China Daily)


Police in Hainan will be authorized to board and search ships that illegally enter the province's waters in 2013, the latest Chinese effort to protect the South China Sea.

Under a set of regulation revisions the Hainan People's Congress approved on Tuesday, provincial border police are authorized to board or seize foreign ships that illegally enter the province's waters and order them to change course or stop sailing.

The full texts of the regulations, which take effect on Jan 1, will soon be released to the public, said Huang Shunxiang, director of the congress's press office.

Activities such as entering the island province's waters without permission, damaging coastal defense facilities, and engaging in publicity that threatens national security are illegal.

If foreign ships or crew members violate regulations, Hainan police have the right to take over the ships or their communications systems, under the revised regulations.

Calling the revisions "significant", Zhuang Guotu, director of the Southeast Asian Center at Xiamen University, said: "It is urgent for China to improve its legal system regarding offshore law enforcement because disputes with other countries are on the rise in the South China Sea.

"Police have clear processes laid out in the new regulations for appraising illegal activities and punishing illegal entry," Zhuang said.

The revisions also emphasized border police should strengthen the patrolling of the waters of Sansha and coordinate with the routine patrols conducted by the country.

Sansha, the newest prefecture-level city, which was established in July, administers the islands and waters of the South China Sea. The city is under the jurisdiction of Hainan.

Bi Zhiqiang, director of the legislative affairs commission of the Hainan People's Congress, said the revised regulations will strengthen offshore patrols of the waters off Hainan, protecting national maritime interests.

An insider from China Marine Surveillance told China Daily that new ships will join the South China Sea patrol fleet soon.

On Nov 12, a 3,000-metric-ton inspection ship started patrolling the Yellow Sea, and on Nov 15, another one joined the patrol fleet in the East China Sea.

All these moves show that the country is preparing itself for dealing with complicated marine disputes, said Qi Jianguo, former Chinese ambassador to Vietnam.

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_15969463.htm

[night driver]

There WAS a time, when the SecSta would call the Chinese Embassy and invite the Chinese Ambassador to tea, closing with "Be Prompt!" and, over tea explain why the boarding of shios was simply not going to happen. And SecSta would have been listened to, and been deemed correct.

That time is gone. Sadly.

[Nellie Belle]

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

[Nellie Belle]

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

[Nellie Belle]

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