PRC
ambiguity risks sea clashes, crisis group says
AP, MANILA
China is deploying more surveillance and paramilitary ships to the South China
Sea without a clear legal framework to assert its ambiguous territorial claims,
risking more confrontations, a report said yesterday.
The bigger patrol ships sent by Chinese maritime surveillance and fisheries
agencies have figured in major flare-ups, including an ongoing standoff with a
Philippine Coast Guard vessel over a disputed shoal off the western Philippine
coast.
At the same time, the nearly dozen Chinese government agencies handling
Beijing¡¦s claims compete over budget and power and operate with conflicting
mandates and lack of coordination, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in
its report.
Six countries ¡X including Taiwan ¡X are engaged in territorial rifts in the South
China Sea, crossed by one of the world¡¦s busiest commercial sea-lanes and
accounting for about 10 percent of the annual global fisheries catch.
A map China submitted to the UN in 2009 claims virtually the entire area, but
Beijing has so far refused to define the exact extent of its claims, causing
confusion and fostering potential conflicts, the ICG said.
Some Chinese ships, according to the ICG, were unaware of the limits of the
areas where they were supposed to assert sovereignty.
ICG said it interviewed an official with the Maritime Safety Administration in
China¡¦s Hainan Province who said he did not know what area to defend. The
official was not further identified.
The China Marine Surveillance, an agency patrolling the South China Sea, plans
to increase its personnel from 9,000 to 15,000 and the number of ships from 280
to 520 by 2020, the ICG said. Another agency, the China Fisheries Law
Enforcement Command, plans to acquire more helicopter-carrying patrol ships.
Such buildup is separate from the strengthening of China¡¦s navy, according to
the Brussels-based group.
Manila has asked Beijing to bring their disputes to the UN for arbitration, a
process that will require both to delineate their claims. However, Chinese
officials have insisted on negotiating with other claimants individually.
The latest confrontation erupted on April 10 when a Filipino warship attempted
to arrest Chinese fishermen, who were accused of illegally entering and poaching
endangered species at Scarborough Shoal (¶À©¥®q). Two Chinese surveillance ships
prevented the arrests and the fishermen slipped away.
Also yesterday, the Philippines warned that China¡¦s sweeping territorial claims
in the region may eventually threaten freedom of navigation in the busy region
and called on Western and Asian countries to take a stand against any such
potential threat.
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said China has
claimed virtually the entire South China Sea for years. Now, they can
aggressively assert its claims as shown by its actions at Scarborough Shoal, he
told reporters.
¡§This is a manifestation of a potential threat to freedom of navigation as well
as unimpeded commerce in the area,¡¨ he added.
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario said that with
Beijing claiming almost everything in the South China Sea, ¡§the message is
[Beijing] can set the rules for anybody.¡¨
¡§I think the current standoff is a manifestation of a larger threat to many
nations,¡¨ Del Rosario told a local TV network in an interview. ¡§They should be
concerned if they¡¦re interested in maintaining the freedom of navigation and
unimpeded commerce.¡¨
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