(Photo : Getty Images: Kevin Frayer / Stringer)
China passed a law that requires its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels directly, a step that could make the disputed waters around China more choppy.
China to Require Its Coast Guard to Fire on Foreign Vessels
In the East China Sea, China has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan and in the South China Sea with many Southeast Asian nations. It sent its coast guard to scare off other countries' fishing boats, often contributing to those vessels' sinking.
The Chinese coast guard is the region's most potent force of its kind and is now involved in the vicinity of the East China Sea's uninhabited islands. Occupied by Japan but claimed by Beijing and the South China Sea, it was practically claimed in its entirety by China.
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These operations also brought the coast guard into frequent contact with Japanese air and sea forces, its principal ally, the United States, and the other South China Sea claimants, including Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Both water bodies are considered possible flashpoints. The passage of the law could warn that China is planning to increase stakes over what it considers its core national interests.
If the country wishes to displace the US as the dominant military force in East Asia, controlling them is a strategic necessity. Simultaneously, the resources they hold, including fish stocks and oil and natural gas undersea reserves, may be crucial to sustaining China's continued economic growth.
According to state media sources, China's highest legislative body, the National People's Congress standing committee, passed the Coast Guard Legislation on Friday.
According to the previously published bill's draft language, the coastguard is empowered to use "all necessary means" to deter or avoid attacks from foreign vessels.
The bill defines the conditions in firing vessels in which various weapons will be used, whether hand-held, transported, or airborne. The bill requires coast guard personnel to demolish the structures constructed on Chinese-claimed reefs of other countries and board and inspect foreign vessels in China's waters.
The bill also empowers the coastguard to establish 'if required' temporary exclusion zones to avoid other vessels and staff's entry.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, reacting to questions, said the legislation was in line with international standards.
The first article of the bill states that the legislation is required to safeguard China's sovereignty, stability, and maritime rights. This legislation comes seven years after many civilian maritime law enforcement agencies were integrated into a coast guard bureau by China.
It became the military force's proper branch after the bureau came under the People's Armed Police command in 2018.
China's recent move could also further complicate its relations with the United States, which maintains strategic alliances with a range of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, competing with Beijing maritime claims.
Christian Le Miere, diplomacy in maritime analyst and the founder of the Archipel group based in London and The Hague, said in a social media post that the new law "strikes at the core" of the US policy freedom of navigation in the Sea of South China.
China's coast guard is already doing all of the heavy lifting in maritime coercion in the near seas, and so it's worth examining the new legislation just passed on this issue."
China's nine-dash line assertion, which claims ownership of most of the South China Sea, has been annulled by the International Court in The Hague.
