China increases its
surveillance fleet capabilities
By J. Michael Cole / Staff reporter
As regional tensions continue to grow over overlapping claims in the South and
East China Seas, China¡¦s premier civilian maritime agency announced last week it
would commission more than three dozen new vessels by next year.
Quoting Chinese government officials, the state-affiliated China Daily reported
that to safeguard China¡¦s huge maritime interests, the China Marine Surveillance
(CMS) would add 36 ships to its fleet by next year. An unnamed CMS official said
that seven vessels would have a displacement of 1,500 tonnes, 15 of 1,000 tonnes
and 14 of 600 tonnes.
Construction of the 600-tonne cutters reportedly began on Tuesday in Weihai,
Shandong Province.
The vessels will be distributed to 14 provinces, autonomous regions and cities
along the Chinese coastline, it said.
Last week¡¦s announcement seemed to indicate that the CMS was accelerating its
acquisition of new vessels amid disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam and
Japan. CMS Deputy Director Sun Shuxian (®]®Ñ½å) said in May last year that the 36
new ships would be acquired over the next five years as part of the 12th Five
Year Plan approved by the State Council. Under the plan, the agency would also
increase personnel by more than 1,000, to about 10,000, and China would ¡§carry
out regular sea patrols more frequently to strengthen law enforcement in
Chinese-related waters to safeguard the country¡¦s maritime rights in 2011.¡¨
At the time of Sun¡¦s announcement, the CMS counted a fleet of as many as 300
marine surveillance ships ¡X including 30 with displacement of more than 1,000
tonnes ¡X as well as six fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters.
Jane¡¦s Defence Weekly reported last year that a growing number of larger CMS
vessels were capable of carrying helicopters and were becoming more advanced in
terms of electronics and maneuverability.
CMS ships were recently involved in China¡¦s dispute with the Philippines over
the Scarborough Shoal (¶À©¥®q) and are also used to enforce China¡¦s claims to the
Spratly («n¨F¸s®q) and Paracel islands (¦è¨F¸s®q) in the South China Sea, of which
Taiwan is also a claimant. CMS patrol ships sailing close to the Diaoyutai
Islands (³¨³½¥x) have also sparked disputes with Japan.
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