Danger from Chinese militia ships in the South China Sea

At the end of May, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) under the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, USA) published a research article stating the case of Chinese coast guard ships and militia ships obstructing Philippine ships. M/V DA BFAR conducts research in the East Sea.

Accordingly, while approaching Clouds Beach On April 21, the M/V DA BFAR was followed by a Coast Guard vessel only about 100 meters away. At the same time, another coast guard ship and two militia ships advanced from the north. With such pressure, the DA BFAR was forced to turn around and withdraw from the area.

Gathering in the Spratly Sea

The case of the Philippine ship being forced to turn around like this may remind those interested in the South China Sea situation to recall the Chinese fishing boat that rammed the Philippine fishing boat Gem-Ver 1 near Reed Bank and abandoned 22 fishermen before they could return home. was rescued by a Vietnamese ship on the evening of June 9, 2019. At that time, Professor Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (University of the Philippines), said that the Chinese fishing boat that rammed the Gem-Ver 1 had a standard design of the country’s militia ships, according to Radio ABS-CBN News.

AMTI director Gregory Poling said the Gem-Ver 1 crash was “an inevitable consequence of Beijing sending hundreds of fishing boats as a militia”. Mr. Poling also warned that a similar shipwreck would happen again because there are hundreds of Chinese militia ships operating in the waters around the Spratly Islands, under Vietnam’s sovereignty.

The image is believed to be a Chinese militia ship at Batou Reef on March 25, 2021 AMTI

According to a report posted on AMTI’s website in November 2021, from the end of 2017 to the end of 2018, the number of ships likely to be Chinese militia ships in the Spratly waters increased to around 300 in any given year. when.

Most of them anchored for weeks at a time in the harbors at Subi and Mischief Reefs. By early 2020, China’s maritime militia began to congregate in larger numbers around the Sinh Ton cluster and especially Ba Dau rocks. In April 2021, this force’s presence in the Spratlys became more flexible rather than downsized, with many ships moving from Ba Dau Reef to nearby Tu Nghia Reef and several other features.

The image is believed to be a Chinese militia ship at Batou Reef on March 7, 2021 REuters

Before that, page Defense News quoted China maritime expert Andrew Erickson at the US Naval War College as saying that China’s maritime militia is directly involved in naval warfare. Hoang Sa 1974 and was involved in numerous atrocities in East Seaincluding the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat during the period when China illegally planted oil rig Hai Duong-981 (Haiyang Shiyou-981) in Vietnamese waters in 2014.

“Reckless risk of collision”

In the Security Evolution report and military Regarding the People’s Republic of China in 2019, the US Department of Defense warned that China’s maritime militia plays an important role in operations to help Beijing achieve its political goals without causing armed conflict.

In particular, the maritime militia unit of Hainan province is the most professionally organized and regularly receives large subsidies to expand operations to the Spratly area. Even many analysts believe that militia ships can be viewed as a paramilitary force of China to serve the country’s maritime strategy.

The Pentagon report at the time indicated that the Hainan government had ordered the construction of 84 large militia ships with reinforced hulls and ammunition stores. The report also states that many militia ships train and assist the Chinese navy and coast guard in a variety of missions, including surveillance and reconnaissance.

Over the past decade, the maritime militia has become the leading force in most of the country’s intentions China control disputed waters in the South China Sea and prevent legitimate activities of neighboring countries within their exclusive economic zones, according to the aforementioned AMTI report.

“To this end, the militia ships operate in a manner that clearly violates international maritime law. Militia ships together with coast guard ships deliberately move recklessly, creating the risk of collision to coerce foreign ships,” the report said.