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China may boost patrols in South China Sea

Other News Materials 19 March 2009 20:06 (UTC +04:00)

China may convert more retired navy ships into fishery patrol vessels, state media said on Thursday, as it seeks to extend its reach over disputed South China Sea islands straddling key Asian shipping lanesChina may convert more retired navy ships into fishery patrol vessels, state media said on Thursday, as it seeks to extend its reach over disputed South China Sea islands straddling key Asian shipping lanes, AP reported.

The report comes less than two weeks after Chinese boats jostled with the U.S. Navy ocean surveillance vessel Impeccable, which Beijing said was conducting an illegal survey in its waters.

"The Impeccable incident is certainly a troubling indicator that China, particularly in the South China Sea, is behaving in an aggressive, troublesome manner and they're not willing to abide by acceptable standards of behavior," the U.S. Pacific commander, Navy Admiral Timothy Keating, said on Thursday.

Others saw China's use of fishery patrol ships, rather than military vessels, as marking its stance while avoiding direct confrontation with the United States or rival claimants to the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea.

"In some ways this should be seen as a positive signal, that they don't wish to escalate the situation or provoke further clashes as might be the case if warships were involved," said Sam Bateman of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

Other Asian states are increasingly using coastguard fleets rather than their navies to defend claims to maritime borders, he said.

"China will make the best use of its (retired) naval ships and may also build more fishery patrol ships, depending on the need," Wu Zhuang, director of the Administration of Fishery and Fishing Harbor Supervision of the South China Sea, told the China Daily. It did not say if the boats would be armed.

Beijing's military build-up has contributed to a sense of unease in parts of Asia, especially Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims as its own and which it has vowed to bring under mainland control, by force if necessary.

The South China Sea and access to the Straits of Malacca are crucial to China's plans should war ever break out with Taiwan.

Earlier this week, China sent its largest fishery patrol ship, the Yuzheng 311, to waters around the Spratly Islands, a cluster of islets and atolls north of Borneo island. The area is rich in fishing and has significant oil and gas deposits.

"Faced with a growing amount of illegal fishing and other countries' unfounded territorial claims of islands in China's exclusive economic zone, it has become necessary to step up the fishery administration's patrols to protect China's rights and interests," the China Daily quoted Wu as saying.

The Spratlys are claimed by China and, in full or in part, by Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Several of them have moved to bolster their claims recently.

"We have reiterated China's position on the South China Sea many times," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. That position was "indisputable sovereign rights" over the area and that China was justified in exercising those rights, he added.

The Philippines signed a law last week laying claim to part of the Spratlys and the separate Scarborough Shoal. Malaysia's prime minister landed on Swallow Reef and Ardasier Reef, in the Spratly archipelago, on March 5 to assert his country's claim.

"The Philippines has passed a law that is very controversial and that is not very smart diplomatically," said a Foreign Ministry official in Taiwan.

Asked about China's claim, the official said: "I am sure they'll express their will in a more aggressive way."

Vietnam said it was paying attention to the movement of the Yuzheng 311. The Philippine navy said it was unconcerned.

The last time China's navy engaged in battle was in 1996, when three of its ships had a brief shootout with a Philippine gunboat in the South China Sea. Two years later, the Philippine navy arrested Chinese fishermen off Scarborough Shoal.

Sending a fishery patrol showed China "exercised moderation," Chinese media cited Su Hao, head of China Foreign Affairs University's Asia-Pacific Research Center, as saying this week.

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The report comes less than two weeks after Chinese boats jostled with the U.S. Navy ocean surveillance vessel Impeccable, which Beijing said was conducting an illegal survey in its waters.

"The Impeccable incident is certainly a troubling indicator that China, particularly in the South China Sea, is behaving in an aggressive, troublesome manner and they're not willing to abide by acceptable standards of behavior," the U.S. Pacific commander, Navy Admiral Timothy Keating, said on Thursday.

Others saw China's use of fishery patrol ships, rather than military vessels, as marking its stance while avoiding direct confrontation with the United States or rival claimants to the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea.

"In some ways this should be seen as a positive signal, that they don't wish to escalate the situation or provoke further clashes as might be the case if warships were involved," said Sam Bateman of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

Other Asian states are increasingly using coastguard fleets rather than their navies to defend claims to maritime borders, he said.

"China will make the best use of its (retired) naval ships and may also build more fishery patrol ships, depending on the need," Wu Zhuang, director of the Administration of Fishery and Fishing Harbor Supervision of the South China Sea, told the China Daily. It did not say if the boats would be armed.

Beijing's military build-up has contributed to a sense of unease in parts of Asia, especially Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims as its own and which it has vowed to bring under mainland control, by force if necessary.

The South China Sea and access to the Straits of Malacca are crucial to China's plans should war ever break out with Taiwan.

Earlier this week, China sent its largest fishery patrol ship, the Yuzheng 311, to waters around the Spratly Islands, a cluster of islets and atolls north of Borneo island. The area is rich in fishing and has significant oil and gas deposits.

"Faced with a growing amount of illegal fishing and other countries' unfounded territorial claims of islands in China's exclusive economic zone, it has become necessary to step up the fishery administration's patrols to protect China's rights and interests," the China Daily quoted Wu as saying.

SPRATLY SPAT

The Spratlys are claimed by China and, in full or in part, by Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Several of them have moved to bolster their claims recently.

"We have reiterated China's position on the South China Sea many times," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. That position was "indisputable sovereign rights" over the area and that China was justified in exercising those rights, he added.

The Philippines signed a law last week laying claim to part of the Spratlys and the separate Scarborough Shoal. Malaysia's prime minister landed on Swallow Reef and Ardasier Reef, in the Spratly archipelago, on March 5 to assert his country's claim.

"The Philippines has passed a law that is very controversial and that is not very smart diplomatically," said a Foreign Ministry official in Taiwan.

Asked about China's claim, the official said: "I am sure they'll express their will in a more aggressive way."

Vietnam said it was paying attention to the movement of the Yuzheng 311. The Philippine navy said it was unconcerned.

The last time China's navy engaged in battle was in 1996, when three of its ships had a brief shootout with a Philippine gunboat in the South China Sea. Two years later, the Philippine navy arrested Chinese fishermen off Scarborough Shoal.

Sending a fishery patrol showed China "exercised moderation," Chinese media cited Su Hao, head of China Foreign Affairs University's Asia-Pacific Research Center, as saying this week.

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