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#1 (permalink) |
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Senior Contributor
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China to send more ships to assert S.China Sea claim
China to send more ships to assert S.China Sea claim
BEIJING – China may convert more navy ships into fishery vessels to patrol the South China Sea, the China Daily reported, as Beijing seeks to extend its reach over resource-rich islands that straddle key Asian shipping lanes. "China will make the best use of its (retired) naval ships and may also build more fishery patrol ships, depending on the need," Wu Zhuang, director of the Administration of Fishery and Fishing Harbor Supervision of the South China Sea, told the newspaper. China earlier this week sent its largest fishery patrol ship, Yuzheng 311, to the waters around the Spratley Islands, a cluster of islets and atolls that lie north of Borneo island and are thought to have significant oil and gas deposits. "Faced with a growing amount of illegal fishing and other countries' unfounded territorial claims of islands in China's exclusive economic zone, it has become necessary to step up the fishery administration's patrols to protect China's rights and interests," the China Daily quoted Wu as saying. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, nations have sovereignty over waters extending a maximum 12 nautical miles off their coasts, including offshore islands, and exclusive economic zones extending 200 nautical miles. The Philippines passed a law last week laying claim to part of the Spratlys. Malaysia's Prime Minister on March 5 landed on Swallow Reef and Ardasier Reef, also in the Spratly archipelago, to assert his country's claim to those reefs. Immediately prior to the Yuzheng 311 mission, the United States assigned an escort to its naval survey vessel Impeccable, which was harassed by five Chinese boats last week in waters that China claims as its exclusive economic zone. On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters he did not believe that the incident showed Beijing wanted to force the U.S. Pacific fleet from the region, which contains some of the world's busiest shipping lanes. In a sign of China's growing global clout, Beijing in December sent three naval vessels to help tackle piracy off Somalia in the country's biggest blue water operation outside of the region. Beijing's opaque but quickening military build-up has contributed to a sense of unease in parts of Asia, especially Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its own and has vowed to bring under mainland control, by force if necessary. The Spratlys are claimed in full or part by China, as well as Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
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#4 (permalink) | |
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Professor (retired)
Senior Contributor
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Quote:
It often happens in the past that countries laying claim, like Malaysia send vessels over. But it is this unilateral action by Philippines that triggers China to sent over their fishery petrol vessel. Last edited by Merlin; 04-03-2009 at 05:18 AM.. |
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#5 (permalink) | |||
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Regular
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UN's EEZ convention
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Either way, was China right for "Harassing" US ship, EVEN if the ship was operating illegally? |
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