China has been beefing up its patrols in the South China Sea, which it claims for its own under the nine dash line, which is widely-rejected by the global community, to prevent the Philippines from continuing exploration within the natural gas rich resource.
Disguised as civilian ships, the sturdy and hull-reinforced Chinese maritime militia vessels which the US the US has declared as integral part of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy and are not immune to attacks in case a direct confrontation occurs between the US and China, are being bolstered to patrol the disputed waters of South China Sea.
“China’s Coast Guard (CCG) presence in the South China Sea is more robust than ever,” declared the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), which analyzed the automatic identification system (AIS) data of commercial provider Marine Traffic, Business Mirror reported.
MTI of the US-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) claimed the patrols were backed by the presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels in the Southeast Asian waters.
Hence China did not just sustain but stepped up its patrols of SCS which China claims its own under itsnine-dash line (which Hague rejected).
“The China Coast Guard (CCG) maintained near-daily patrols at key features across the South China Sea in 2022. Together with the ubiquitous presence of its maritime militia, China’s constant coast guard patrols show Beijing’s determination to assert control over the vast maritime zone within its claimed nine-dash line,” the AMTI report said.
AMTI’s analysis of AIS data from Marine Traffic for the year 2022 focused on the five features that were most frequented by Chinese patrols, and these were the Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal), Luconia Shoals, Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc), Vanguard Bank and Thitu Island.
China has been exercising de facto control over the Scarborough Shoal near Zambales after it wrested control of the feature from the Philippines in 2012 and it was conducting regular patrol over the waters of the Second Thomas Shoal although it was still being guarded by Filipino troops who were stationed aboard the partly- sunken BRP Sierra Madre.
On January 9 this year, the CCG drove away a Filipino fishing boat from the waters of Ayungin Shoal despite China’s assurance during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ‘s state visit to Beijing that it will not impede Filipino fishermen’s activities in the waters that it was contesting with the Philippines.
Comparing the data of 2022 to the year 2020, the AMTI report said Chinese patrols in Second Thomas Shoal increased to 279 from 232, while at the Scarborough Shoal, it also rose to 344 from 287.
“Data on the reefs surrounding Philippine-held Thitu Island [Pagasa Island] was not collected in previous analyses, but CCG [China Coast Guard] vessels were on site 208 days over the past year. At some features, especially Scarborough Shoal, multiple CCG vessels were present simultaneously,” the AMTI said.
The increased presence of Chinese patrols in the maritime waters of the Philippines, which Beijing disputes, were also used to harass and stop the country’s oil explorations.
“For instance, China convinced the Philippines to shut down renewed exploration of Reed Bank in April when the CCG 5203 shadowed a contracted survey vessel,” the AMTI report said.
“The CCG also worked with maritime militia at Second Thomas Shoal to obstruct resupply missions to Philippine marines stationed on the shoal multiple times throughout 2022. And in another publicized incident, Chinese and Philippine law enforcement came face to face at Thitu Island in November when CCG cut the tow line of a Philippine vessel removing Chinese rocket debris from waters west of the island,” it added.
Given the constant presence of Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels in maritime waters that China disputes in Southeast Asia, the AMTI declared that “confrontations” are “inevitable.”
China’s nine-dash line also intrudes into the waters of other countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Indonesia, the latter being the only country in the region that is challenging Chinese vessels and their illegal activities in its waters.
Tags: #China, #militiaboats, #Philippines, #WPS