[Skynet]

BEIJING: China has passed a law that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, a move that could make the contested waters around China even more choppy.

China has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea. It has sent its coast guard to chase away fishing vessels from other countries, sometimes resulting in the sinking of these vessels.

China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress standing committee, passed the Coast Guard Law on Friday, according to state media reports.

According to draft wording in the bill published earlier, the coast guard is allowed to use “all necessary means” to stop or prevent threats from foreign vessels.

The bill specifies the circumstances under which different kind of weapons — hand-held, ship-mounted or airborne — can be used.

It allows coast guard personnel to demolish other countries’ structures built on Chinese-claimed reefs and to board and inspect foreign vessels in waters claimed by China.

The bill also empowers the coastguard to create temporary exclusion zones “as needed” to stop other vessels and personnel from entering.

Responding to concerns, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the law was in line with international practices.

The first article of the bill explains that the law is needed to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and maritime rights.

The law comes seven years after China merged several civilian maritime law-enforcement agencies to form a coast guard bureau.

After the bureau came under the command of the People’s Armed Police in 2018, it became a proper branch of the military forces.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/20554 ... gn-vessels

As the US is busy with transition of power, is China now taking over the controle of the South China Sea

[Puffer Fish]

The issue that makes this so outrageous is that China is claiming an unrealistically vast swath of territorial waters that stretch all the way down between Vietnam and the Philippines, even farther than that approaching the large Malaysian/Indonesian island of Borneo.

see map here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territori ... ms_map.jpg

They are using the justification that they are controlling the Spratly islands (which were a few uninhabited rocks in the middle of the ocean) to try to make that claim seem a little more reasonable.

It need not be said of course that China also claims the entire waters surrounding Taiwan (and even lays claim to Taiwan itself).


This new law, if not exactly grabbing those territorial waters outright, is sending a clear message that Chinese military enforcement vessels will have clear dominion over this area.
Analogous to police, comply or force will be used against you.

None of the other countries in the area have the military strength to fight the Chinese military, especially not at sea.

[Fasces]

Either we accept that geographic proximity is a valid basis on which to reject Chinese claims, and give up remnant colonial enterprises like the Malvinas or Diego Garcia, or we accept that "the islands are closer to the Philippines/Vietnam/Malaysia" does not matter.

[Igor Antunov]

Taiwan is also making an 'unreasonable claim', as is Vietnam. Difference being China can actually enforce its claims with resource exploitation and militarized island building. So realistically speaking it's just a matter of time before the region becomes a western duck shooting gallery. Go play imperialism somewhere else uncle sam, this is China's playground. In regards to the western pacific, you're just not what you used to be. Home advantage is just not there and throwing money at things just ain't doing it anymore.

Pentagon drones ‘8 to 14 times’ costlier than banned Chinese craft and only posses 20% of the capabilities: US interior department officials complain about price and capability of civilian fleet of vehicles
https://www.ft.com/content/dd2e936e-593 ... dea9a41b18