时间：2022-10-25 05:31:10
In January， two ships each with a displacement of 4，000 tons were commissioned for the use of the China Coast Guard （CCG）， the revamped maritime law enforcement agency that began official operations last July. The two multifunctional vessels with advanced facilities， christened the CCG-2401 and 3401， were transferred to the CCG’s East and South China Sea fleets， placing this brand new hardware in two areas which have seen China’s most heated struggles to assert Beijing’s claims of maritime sovereignty.
In the same month， the State Oceanic Administration （SOA） unveiled a massive shipbuilding project， claiming that in 2014 China will build 20 inspection ships and purchase four aircraft， while also accelerating provincial programs to update and revamp the country’s maritime law enforcement.
Stepping Up
As early as March， 2013， China consolidated maritime law enforcement under the central direction of the CCG， streamlining the functions and duties of several agencies including the SOA maritime surveillance agency， the Ministry of Public Security’s maritime police and border control agency， the Ministry of Agriculture’s fisheries law enforcement wing and the General Administration of Customs’（GAC） anti-smuggling operations.
The amalgamation was part of an overall institutional reform package released by the State Council， China’s cabinet. Previously， four law enforcement agencies together with the maritime safety admin-istration under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport were referred to with the Chinese idiom “five dragons churning the ocean”because of the chaotic overlap which made them virtually powerless to efficiently enforce maritime law.
Effectively integrating these resources into a single coastguard will“greatly reduce internal friction and shorten the decision-making process” said Luo Yuan， a researcher with the Academy of Military Science， in an interview with China Daily.
According to the SOA’s 12th Five Year Plan， the agency planned to bring its total number of ships to 360， plus 16 support aircraft， by 2015. Sun Shuxian， chief engineer with the SOA told NewsChina that after unification， China’s maritime surveillance agency “remains the most powerful and professional unit” among the five law enforcement agencies that comprise the CCG. “China Maritime Surveillance has taken part in roughly 80 percent of the country’s sovereignty protection activities，” he said.
Although Sun’s agency has undertaken two ship building projects， in 1998 and 2008， adding several vessels with over 1，000-ton displacement to its fleet， over 50 percent of the vessels serving its three regional operation branches the North， East and South China Sea Fleets had their keels laid in the 1970s. When facing the modern， well-equipped coastguards of China’s territorial rivals， Japan in par-ticular， these outmoded and dilapidated ships struggle to compete.
“The previous upgrading project aimed relatively low， within the limits of China’s financial capabilities，”said Sun. “In recent years， such objectives are increasingly hard to meet considering the increased pressure， especially in disputed waters.”
China is reportedly building a 10，000-ton maritime surveillance vessel this year， one of the largest of its kind in the world. The vessel will have a higher continuous voyage capability with an estimated maximum speed of 20 knots， be armed with several heavy deck-mounted guns and be equipped with an advanced communication system along with two helicopter landing pads.
The unified CCG’s new vessels have also been promised stateof-the-art equipment， including underwater surveillance， radar jamming capabilities， robotic submersibles and high-definition surveillance systems.
“By integrating five maritime divisions， it is conducive to the unity of command， and can help avoid overlap，” Yang Mian， professor of international relations with the Communications University of China told the Global Times.
“In addition， the new agency will also empower law enforcement，”he continued. “Now， all these agencies’ vessels， rather than just those owned by China Maritime Surveillance， can be armed.”
Data from the SOA show that in 2013 China Maritime Surveillance carried out 36 patrols and 402 flights in China’s claimed territorial waters. According to the China Daily， officials spent 262 days at sea， during which time they detected incursions by 188 foreign ships and 21 foreign aircraft into China’s maritime territory.
Moving South
The new amalgamated coastguard in China is indisputably a re- sponse to rising tensions in the South and East China seas. The ongoing territorial spat with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands off Taiwan has continued as disputes over several uninhabited reefs in the South China Sea have set Beijing at odds with the Philippines， Vietnam and Brunei among others.
“The South China Sea needs patrolling against the backdrop of growing disputes with several Southeast Asian countries，” an official with the SOA who chose to remain anonymous told our reporter.“These areas will be the focus of the maritime surveillance in the future and ships with special equipment will patrol the area more frequently.”
“Sending warships to protect China’s maritime rights is both too aggressive and too risky，” the official continued. “China maritime surveillance and fisheries are the go-to frontline choices.”
Indeed， large fisheries vessels and maritime surveillance vessels are seen as an effective deterrent. During a 2012 confrontation with the Philippine coastguard off the Huangyan Island （the Scarborough Shoal） in the South China Sea， a ship from the North China Sea fleet was dispatched to the area. This led the maritime surveillance authorities to speed up the development of a rapid response protocol to deal with anticipated future crises.
Although Chinese vessels currently patrol the South China Sea using radar， high-intensity searchlights at night as well as air support， the authorities in Beijing are demanding 24-hour patrols in order to“defend China’s territorial claims and sovereignty.”
The anonymous official with the SOA we spoke to declined to comment on how far the new equipment upgrading project would shift resources toward the South China Sea but asserted that “more large ships and aircraft would be deployed.”