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The South China Sea's Gathering Storm

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The South China Sea's Gathering Storm

Old 17th Aug 2021, 11:51
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In The Times this afternoon.
China is conducting a live-fire military exercise involving warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter jets near Taiwan in response to “‘provocations” by the US.

China is conducting a live-fire military exercise involving warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter jets near Taiwan in response to “‘provocations” by the US.

In an unusual move, at least two Chinese aircraft reportedly entered areas designated by Taiwan for its military use.

Hu Xijin, the influential editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a party-run newspaper, demanded that John Cornyn, a US senator, explain why he tweeted that there were 30,000 US troops deployed to Taiwan.

“If there are 30,000 US troops, or even fewer than this number, deployed in Taiwan, it is a severe matter,” Hu wrote in a commentary.

“These troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. The US government and Taiwanese authorities must apologise. Otherwise, we believe there will be an all-out war right away. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is certain to eliminate and expel US troops, liberate the province of Taiwan and solve the Taiwan issue once and for all.”


In a later tweet, Hu dismissed the possibility that Cornyn might have mistakenly quoted an outdated figure. “I think the senator is not confused, and he wants to test our response,” Hu tweeted. “My answer to him is war.”

The PLA exercises, taking place south of the island, were a “solemn response” to “external interference and provocations by Taiwan independence forces”, said Shi Yi, a colonel and spokesman for the eastern theatre command.

“Recently, the US and Taiwan have made a series of provocations, sending severely wrong signals, severely violating China’s sovereignty and severely harming the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” Shi said. “These have become the biggest source of instability [threatening] the security of the Taiwan Strait.”

The drills mark the latest military escalation in the Taiwan Strait, where tensions have been building up for months, with China conducting war games and carrying out training exercises in a show of its determination to seize the island.


China considers the island to be part of its territory and has vowed to take it back, by force if necessary, to achieve national unity. However, the US has a security pact with Taiwan to supply the island with adequate military hardware and technology to deter mainland invasion.

In the face of rising threats from Beijing, Washington is deepening its ties with Taiwan, sending senior US officials there and donating coronavirus vaccines. The moves have irked Beijing, whose diplomats have warned their US counterparts that Taiwan is regarded as a matter of national sovereignty and is the most sensitive issue in US-China relations. The island broke away from the mainland in 1949 following a bloody civil war.

Last week reports surfaced that Taiwan and US coast guard forces had conducted joint exercises to the east of the island.

Taiwan denied there was any involvement of US vessels in the exercise but the two sides have set up a “Taiwan-US coast-guard work group” and last week agreed that it would meet regularly to co-ordinate on maritime issues of mutual concern and strengthen their abilities to respond to “regional maritime challenges”.

Chinese analysts, convinced that a joint exercise took place, called it a form of military co-operation and warned that it could pave the way for real joint exercises between Taiwanese and US military forces.

Following the reports, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that any “collusion between Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party and foreign forces was “playing with fire”.

The Chinese military said its exercises were necessary given the “security situation” in the Taiwan Strait.

“The eastern theatre command has the determination and the abilities to defeat all separatists activities,” Colonel Shi said. “It will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

By late afternoon, Taiwanese media said a Y-8 anti-submarine plane had traversed an area set up for firing exercises at a Taiwanese missile base, and that a Chinese spy plane flew across a designated area for the Taiwanese military to conduct air drills.

Since last September Chinese air force planes have regularly breached Taiwan’s air defence identification zone but it was the first time they have entered areas designated by the island for its own military use.
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Old 17th Aug 2021, 19:29
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Originally Posted by Asturias56
IF, and its a big IF - the littoral states around the S China sea equip with medium range shore to ship missiles the S China Sea starts to look like a pretty desperate dead-end for any navy coming from the north. Shallow, lots of islands and reefs and only very narrow choke points to get out to the the south
Indeed. A few hundred MLRS Systems with PrSM based around S China Sea in Philippines, Borneo, Vietnam and Taiwan and the PLAN would be sitting ducks. In such a hypothetical setting I would not expect a single Surface Combat Vessel to survive for more than a few hours.
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Old 17th Aug 2021, 20:17
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Originally Posted by henra
Indeed. A few hundred MLRS Systems with PrSM based around S China Sea in Philippines, Borneo, Vietnam and Taiwan and the PLAN would be sitting ducks. In such a hypothetical setting I would not expect a single Surface Combat Vessel to survive for more than a few hours.
Does that not cut both ways?
What is the survive-ability of 7th fleet vessels under such circumstances?
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Old 18th Aug 2021, 00:22
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Originally Posted by etudiant
Does that not cut both ways?
Yes, depending on where the Chinese have positioned their assets.
Originally Posted by etudiant
What is the survive-ability of 7th fleet vessels under such circumstances?
That depends on what they are doing and when, and who starts shooting first. Real life isn't a video game.
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Old 18th Aug 2021, 13:20
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https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1231691.shtml
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Old 18th Aug 2021, 16:48
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Originally Posted by henra
Indeed. A few hundred MLRS Systems with PrSM based around S China Sea in Philippines, Borneo, Vietnam and Taiwan and the PLAN would be sitting ducks. In such a hypothetical setting I would not expect a single Surface Combat Vessel to survive for more than a few hours.
That presumes the PLAN sails into contested areas oblivious to the threat. Should hostilities kick off, they’ll do their best to mitigate the threat as part of their integrated operations plan, and to some degree they succeed in doing so. If they plan on using ferries to shuttle grunts across the straight in an area infested with submarines, they’ll accept losing a few ships to maintain control of the areas they claim.
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Old 18th Aug 2021, 22:34
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Yes, this was my point about countries such as the Phillipines & Vietnam acquiring shore based anti-ship missiles. Sorting and targeting will require advanced military capabilities otherwise you may end up sinking a bunch of PLA "fishing boats". The PRsM will need quite advanced military capabilities such as F35's and space-based surveillance.

Area-denial across the Formosan Straits is a lot different to the South China Sea with Taiwan opting for shorter range shore based systems and mines.
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Old 18th Aug 2021, 23:15
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Afaik, Taiwan is fully on board with the PRC with respect to the 9-Dash line and the South China Sea being Chinese territory.
That somewhat complicates the scenario planning.
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Old 19th Aug 2021, 10:29
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". Sorting and targeting will require advanced military capabilities otherwise you may end up sinking a bunch of PLA "fishing boats".

I don't think most SE Asian countries care about the difference - especially if they see the Chinese coming mob handed
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Old 19th Aug 2021, 11:37
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AFAIK, Taiwan is fully on board with the PRC with respect to the 9-Dash line and the South China Sea being Chinese territory.
That somewhat complicates the scenario planning.
Let me make you aware….

https://amti.csis.org/taiwan-scs-policy-evolution/

https://www.e-ir.info/2021/01/16/the...u-shaped-line/
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Old 19th Aug 2021, 16:29
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In The Times.
Another turn on the ratchet...
China is to build an airport on reclaimed land in the contested Taiwan Strait, amid rising tensions and near-constant drills by its military forces.
The £340 million project would be between the isles of Dasha and Xiaosha near Pingtan island — at the closest possible point from the mainland to Taiwan and its capital Taipei.

The plan was disclosed a day after the Chinese military began its latest round of live-fire war games involving ships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter jets near Taiwan. The manoeuvres were described as a response to “provocations” by the US over the independently governed island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory to be reclaimed by force if necessary.

Analysts said that the drills by China’s eastern command were to show that it could prevent American troops from coming to Taiwan’s aid if Beijing decided to invade.

The state-run Global Times reported that the airport would be a “major aviation and logistics hub with access to Taiwan”. It said that it would be focused on tourism and would build links between Taiwan and Fujian, the southeastern province. The project comes after a build-up of military infrastructure on the mainland.

China has previously used reclamation techniques to build a series of fortified islets in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Satellite images this year showed that China had already expanded runways at two military air bases in Longtian and Huian, about 170 miles from Taipei. A military aircraft would take seven minutes to reach the capital city from either base, or even less from the new airport.

Two Chinese aircraft were this week reported to have entered areas designated by Taiwan for its military use. Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesman for the Chinese forces, said that the missions were a “solemn response” to “external interference and provocations by Taiwan independence forces”.

Washington, which has a security pact with Taipei, has further angered Beijing by deepening its ties with the island. The Biden administration this month approved its first arms sale to Taiwan, with 40 advanced howitzer artillery systems in a $750 million deal.

Last week, a joint coast guard working group between Taiwan and the US agreed to meet regularly to co-ordinate responses to “maritime challenges”, a move seen by Beijing as paving the way for military co-operation.


Beijing has vowed to achieve “national unity” by 2050 and take over Taiwan, which broke away from the mainland in 1949 after the civil war.

The US and China are also locked in a dispute over the South China Sea, which Beijing has militarised with a series of bases and considers to be almost exclusively its own territory, despite claims from other countries.

In its pivot to Asia, the Royal Navy has sent its flagship, the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, on “freedom of navigation” patrols in the region, provoking warnings that it would face retaliation if it encroached on Chinese territorial waters.

Beijing has announced several large infrastructure deals to link the mainland to the island, all of which have been rejected by Taipei.

Taiwan has been included in China’s latest national transportation network plan, which proposes a high-speed railway between Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian, and Taipei, possibly by 2035. The Chinese also want to build a motorway connecting Beijing to Taipei.

As part of the proposal, China intends to build a tunnel from Pingtan to the coast of Taiwan, though its feasibility has been questioned. A bridge to Pingtan, which has a population of about 420,000, was completed in 2019. An experimental zone was set up on the island county in 2009 to explore models of cross-strait co-operation.

“The island of Pingtan is the closest to Taiwan, with only 68 nautical miles to Taiwan’s Hsinchu,” the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said. “As the nexus of the planned Beijing-Taipei Highway, it’s an important passage to Taiwan in the long-term plan and it will play a positive role in connecting the infrastructure across the strait.”

The ten-mile bridge, designated as part of the Beijing-Taipei Highway, was opened to traffic last year, and has a six-lane motorway on the upper level and tracks for high-speed trains on its lower deck.

Beijing is also considering building a sea tunnel between Pingtai, in the western Guangdong province, and Hsinchu, in northern Taiwan, to accommodate a high-speed railway line and a motorway. No immediate plans for construction have been disclosed.

Taiwan has made no official statement on its inclusion in China’s infrastructure plans. Taiwan News, an online site, said that the island’s government had “previously rejected attempts to aggressively entwine it into the infrastructure of a hostile foreign power”.
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Old 19th Aug 2021, 16:42
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Thank you so much, ORAC, for these links.
They both backstop the Chinese narrative as well as the Taiwanese course corrections.
Frankly, imho it leaves the law pretty murky.
The most plausible forecast is that China will deploy overwhelming military force over the coming years to cement its claims.
That is what is clearly happening already, but China won't have the assets in place to really make it stick for a few years yet.
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Old 19th Aug 2021, 22:49
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Originally Posted by Asturias56
". Sorting and targeting will require advanced military capabilities otherwise you may end up sinking a bunch of PLA "fishing boats".

I don't think most SE Asian countries care about the difference - especially if they see the Chinese coming mob handed

That's a perfect political and military scenario for the PLA. Finite supply of missiles absorbed by their sophisticated fishing boat militia. Dead Chinese fisherman in the South China Sea and they can take it any which way they want. I don't think Western powers would risk conflict over a "fishing dispute". China's Little Blue Men are the likely spark for escalation of the current state of play.

Last edited by Gnadenburg; 19th Aug 2021 at 23:02.
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Old 20th Aug 2021, 13:13
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In The Times.
Japan increases military budget over territorial threats.

Japan is planning to spend a record £36 billion on its military next year as it seeks to defend its territory against threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

Increased funds will help to buy the US-made F-35A and F-35B stealth fighters. The F-35B is capable of short take-off and vertical landing, indispensable on the Nansei island chain that stretches from Okinawa towards Taiwan, where there are few full-length runways.

Funds will also be requested to equip new destroyers with the Aegis missile interceptor system to counter potential threats from North Korea. Japan announced last year that it was scrapping a planned order of Lockheed Martin’s land-based Aegis Ashore, though is still considering its introduction, according to military sources.

There are also expected to be upgrades to missiles and electronic systems on F-15 jets, the main combat aircraft of the Air Self-Defence Force.

The defence ministry is also planning to invest around £2 billion in developing a system to shoot down military drones with lasers or microwaves. Spending is also expected to be increased in areas such as military AI, hypersonic weapons and quantum technology.

The Nansei island chain includes the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, to which China has laid claim. China has been regularly sending naval ships on exercises in the waters around the disputed islets since the Tokyo metropolitan government bought them from a private owner in 2012.

In the Defence of Japan 2021 white paper released in July, the government for the first time stated explicitly that “Taiwan is important for Japan’s security and the stability of the international community”, drawing an angry response from Beijing. There are fears in Japan’s defence community that if China did invade Taiwan then nearby Okinawa would be its next target.

The spending is likely to take Japan’s defence budget over the 1 per cent of GDP guideline it set in 1976. This would only be the second time it had exceeded the 1 per cent target, the first being in 2009-10 when GDP contracted sharply due to the global financial crisis.

Under the Japanese constitution, the nation is forbidden from possessing first-strike capabilities, but is planning to beef up its offensive missile systems.
In addition to the potential dangers of China and North Korea, Russia carried out military exercises in June on islands near Hokkaido that it seized at the end of the Second World War, leading Japan to scramble fighters and lodge a protest with the Russian embassy in Tokyo.

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Old 20th Aug 2021, 13:32
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https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01019/
Japan ranks ninth in Global military spending . According to their numbers that they are willing to share .
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Old 31st Aug 2021, 21:15
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China Strengthens Claims Over Disputed Waters With New Maritime Law Against Foreign S

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...edgdhp&pc=U531

China will begin requiring foreign vessels to report their call signs and cargo before sailing into its "territorial sea"—a term it applies to all the islands it claims in the South China Sea and beyond.

The new regulation under China's Maritime Traffic Safety Law will come into effect on September 1, according to a notice published last Friday by the country's Maritime Safety Administration.

Observers say the move could see further attempts by Beijing to control the civilian and military traffic around its claimed territories, which include hundreds of South China Sea features, but also extend to Taiwan, its outlying islands and the Japan-controlled Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea.

The reporting rule applies to submersibles, nuclear vessels, ships carrying radioactive materials as well as vessels transporting "toxic and harmful substances" including oil, chemicals and liquefied gas, China's maritime authority said.

An additional, more ambiguous article applies to "other vessels that may endanger maritime traffic safety," a line that could be stretched to include all unwelcome foreign vessels, especially of a military nature.

Starting from Wednesday, foreign ships will be required to volunteer their name, call sign, current position, destination and cargo, among other items of information. "In case the vessel fails to report as required," the notice says, "the maritime administration will deal with it according to relevant laws, regulations, rules and provisions."

The announcement doesn't clarify whether this would entail a warning, a forceful expulsion or other action. It remains unclear how China plans to enforce the regulation, and how far it will go with Chinese-claimed islands currently administered by other states.

As defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state. Foreign vessels—both civilian and military—are permitted innocent passage through the waters, according to the law ratified by China and recognized by the United States.

China Protests U.S. Operations
The Chinese government's claims to territorial waters extend to contested features such as the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. China frequently protests the U.S. Navy's freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) around the archipelago, which is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

During its latest FONOP around the China-controlled islands on July 12, the U.S. 7th Fleet said: "Under international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, the ships of all States—including their warships—enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is not permitted by international law."

China's new regulation isn't expected to affect U.S. Navy operations in the region. Newsweek has sought further clarification from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In interviews following the announcement, Chinese commentator Song Zhongping appeared to confirm Beijing's attempts to bend UNCLOS norms.

The new regulation "showcases China's determination to regulate the foreign vessels' right of use within the country's territorial waters, which should be based on proper identification," he said in a Sunday report by Chinese Communist Party tabloid the Global Times.

He added: "If the vessel is military and trespassing in China's territorial waters without advance notice, it will be considered as serious provocation, and the Chinese military will take over to dispel or take even stronger measures to punish the invaders."

In a South China Morning Post report on Monday, Song remarked on the intended reach of the amendment: "The new regulation applies to China's territorial waters—including the East China Sea, the South China Sea and China's islands and reefs—to regulate China's management of those territorial waters."

"Foreign vessels must report and abide by our laws and regulations, to safeguard national sovereignty and security," he was quoted as saying.

During a visit to Southeast Asia last week, Vice President Kamala Harris told officials in Hanoi on Wednesday: "We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure, frankly, on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to challenge its bullying and excessive maritime claims."

While speaking in Singapore the day before, she accused China of coercion and intimidation against other South China Sea littoral states.

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Old 14th Sep 2021, 21:08
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c...aska-fckh6jh22

China sends warships to Alaska

China dispatched a task force of warships led by the pride of Beijing’s fleet to patrol waters off Alaska, escalating its rivalry with the United States for maritime dominance.

Two guided missile destroyers, believed to be Type 055 Nanchang and Type 052D Guiyang vessels, were joined by a surveillance ship and a resupply vessel in a fleet that sailed into the US exclusive economic zone off the Aleutian Island chain.

The expedition was revealed by the US military’s Defence Visual Information Distribution Service website. It published images of the US coastguard “shadowing” the Chinese vessels as they travelled through US waters.

The article was later removed, prompting speculation in Beijing that it had been taken down because the incursion into US waters represented a “loss of face” for Washington.

One image showed Captain Tim Brown, commanding officer of the US coastguard vessel, the Bertholf, as he communicated with “a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ship operating as part of a four-ship task force”. It said interactions between US and Chinese warships on August 29 and August 30 had been “safe and professional”.

However, the development was an escalation in tensions between the two superpowers only a week after Hu Xijin, editor of the main state media outlet, the Global Times, predicted that China would soon send a fleet towards America.

Responding to so-called freedom of navigation exercises by the US in the South China Sea last month, Xijin said: “Hopefully when Chinese warships pass through the Caribbean Sea or show up near Hawaii and Guam one day, the US will uphold the same standard of freedom of navigation. That day will come soon.”

Xijin added today that the exercises near Alaska had started an era of a “bigger maritime rivalry between China and the US”. He said: “The era when the US ships one-sidedly declare ‘freedom of navigation’ in China’s near seas will be replaced by a new era in which Chinese and US battleships will reach near each other’s territorial seas.

“There will be a transition of several decades, but eventually China and the US, under brand-new conditions and through comparisons, will reach a rule of equity to ensure maritime safety.”

The Nanchang is the pride of the Chinese fleet. It was seen leading the flotilla as it sailed east through the Soya Strait, off Japan, on August 24. According to Beijing, that had been to “send a warning to Japanese right-wing forces and militarists” after Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese prime minister, sent an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honoured war criminals from the Second World War, angering China.

As it made its way to Alaska, state media said the flotilla was “fully capable of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity” in the face of “interfering foreign forces”. Its 112 missile silos make it “one of the world’s most powerful warships, if not the most powerful”, according to Beijing…..

Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Timesthat the US military and coastguard were “wary of the presence of Chinese warships close to the country, particularly advanced destroyers like the Type 055”.

“Warships from the US have been making frequent provocations near China in the name of freedom of navigation and now it might feel a little uncomfortable to see Chinese warships on its doorstep,” Wei said, adding that “this is a countermeasure and a signal against the US actions of hegemony”.

Beijing speculated that the Washington could feel it had “lost face by having Chinese warships sailing near it, taking some of its own medicine of freedom of navigation”……
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Old 14th Sep 2021, 23:48
  #1098 (permalink)  
 
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[QUOTE=havoc;11104321]https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...edgdhp&pc=U531

China will begin requiring foreign vessels to report their call signs and cargo before sailing into its "territorial sea"—a term it applies to all the islands it claims in the South China Sea and beyond.

The new regulation under China's Maritime Traffic Safety Law will come into effect on September 1, according to a notice published last Friday by the country's Maritime Safety Administration.

Observers say the move could see further attempts by Beijing to control the civilian and military traffic around its claimed territories, which include hundreds of South China Sea features, but also extend to Taiwan, its outlying islands and the Japan-controlled Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea.

The reporting rule applies to submersibles, nuclear vessels, ships carrying radioactive materials as well as vessels transporting "toxic and harmful substances" including oil, chemicals and liquefied gas, China's maritime authority said.

An additional, more ambiguous article applies to "other vessels that may endanger maritime traffic safety," a line that could be stretched to include all unwelcome foreign vessels, especially of a military nature.

Starting from Wednesday, foreign ships will be required to volunteer their name, call sign, current position, destination and cargo, among other items of information. "In case the vessel fails to report as required," the notice says, "the maritime administration will deal with it according to relevant laws, regulations, rules and provisions."

The announcement doesn't clarify whether this would entail a warning, a forceful expulsion or other action. It remains unclear how China plans to enforce the regulation, and how far it will go with Chinese-claimed islands currently administered by other states.

As defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state. Foreign vessels—both civilian and military—are permitted innocent passage through the waters, according to the law ratified by China and recognized by the United States.

China Protests U.S. Operations
The Chinese government's claims to territorial waters extend to contested features such as the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. China frequently protests the U.S. Navy's freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) around the archipelago, which is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

During its latest FONOP around the China-controlled islands on July 12, the U.S. 7th Fleet said: "Under international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, the ships of all States—including their warships—enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is not permitted by international law."

China's new regulation isn't expected to affect U.S. Navy operations in the region. Newsweek has sought further clarification from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In interviews following the announcement, Chinese commentator Song Zhongping appeared to confirm Beijing's attempts to bend UNCLOS norms.

The new regulation "showcases China's determination to regulate the foreign vessels' right of use within the country's territorial waters, which should be based on proper identification," he said in a Sunday report by Chinese Communist Party tabloid the Global Times.
/QUOTE]

Just am in awe of the Chinese skill at salami slicing. Obviously this ID requirement can be easily leveraged, making it a precondition for docking in China or for taking cargo or crew to or from China.
Commercial operators will kowtow immediately, as it is costless to do so. The full price will be collected later, but that is not the issue for them.
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Old 15th Sep 2021, 06:30
  #1099 (permalink)  
 
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Slightly off topic - but have we noticed reportage that Mark Milley was so worried about the orange fool pushing the button just before the election, and after the capitol riot, that he twice called his counterpart in Beijing to assure the Chinese the US wouldn't attack.
Being referred to as pulling a Schlesinger...!
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Old 15th Sep 2021, 07:46
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[QUOTE=etudiant;11111316]
Originally Posted by havoc
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...edgdhp&pc=U531

China will begin requiring foreign vessels to report their call signs and cargo before sailing into its "territorial sea"—a term it applies to all the islands it claims in the South China Sea and beyond.

The new regulation under China's Maritime Traffic Safety Law will come into effect on September 1, according to a notice published last Friday by the country's Maritime Safety Administration.

Observers say the move could see further attempts by Beijing to control the civilian and military traffic around its claimed territories, which include hundreds of South China Sea features, but also extend to Taiwan, its outlying islands and the Japan-controlled Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea.

The reporting rule applies to submersibles, nuclear vessels, ships carrying radioactive materials as well as vessels transporting "toxic and harmful substances" including oil, chemicals and liquefied gas, China's maritime authority said.

An additional, more ambiguous article applies to "other vessels that may endanger maritime traffic safety," a line that could be stretched to include all unwelcome foreign vessels, especially of a military nature.

Starting from Wednesday, foreign ships will be required to volunteer their name, call sign, current position, destination and cargo, among other items of information. "In case the vessel fails to report as required," the notice says, "the maritime administration will deal with it according to relevant laws, regulations, rules and provisions."

The announcement doesn't clarify whether this would entail a warning, a forceful expulsion or other action. It remains unclear how China plans to enforce the regulation, and how far it will go with Chinese-claimed islands currently administered by other states.

As defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state. Foreign vessels—both civilian and military—are permitted innocent passage through the waters, according to the law ratified by China and recognized by the United States.

China Protests U.S. Operations
The Chinese government's claims to territorial waters extend to contested features such as the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. China frequently protests the U.S. Navy's freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) around the archipelago, which is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

During its latest FONOP around the China-controlled islands on July 12, the U.S. 7th Fleet said: "Under international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, the ships of all States—including their warships—enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is not permitted by international law."

China's new regulation isn't expected to affect U.S. Navy operations in the region. Newsweek has sought further clarification from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In interviews following the announcement, Chinese commentator Song Zhongping appeared to confirm Beijing's attempts to bend UNCLOS norms.

The new regulation "showcases China's determination to regulate the foreign vessels' right of use within the country's territorial waters, which should be based on proper identification," he said in a Sunday report by Chinese Communist Party tabloid the Global Times.
/QUOTE]

Just am in awe of the Chinese skill at salami slicing. Obviously this ID requirement can be easily leveraged, making it a precondition for docking in China or for taking cargo or crew to or from China.
Commercial operators will kowtow immediately, as it is costless to do so. The full price will be collected later, but that is not the issue for them.
A bit like filing a flight plan
beardy is offline  

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