China boosts presence in South China Sea
Stepping up patrols may further stoke rising tensions

Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief

BEIJING: China may convert more retired navy ships into fishery vessels to patrol the South China Sea, a move that could further stoke rising tensions in the disputed waters.

The news, reported by state media yesterday, came as the country's largest fishery patrol vessel, the Yuzheng 311, reached the hotly contested Paracel Islands.

Local news portals yesterday also circulated a photograph showing the Chinese characters for 'Long live the motherland' reportedly scrawled on a sandy beach by Chinese soldiers patrolling an islet in the Paracel chain.

This naval posturing is the latest in a string of worrying developments in the region, and comes less than two weeks after a clash between Chinese boats and a United States ocean surveillance vessel.

Beijing's comments yesterday will not calm nerves as the area boasts some of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

'Faced with a growing amount of illegal fishing and other countries' unfounded territorial claims to islands in China's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), it has become necessary to step up the fishery administration's patrols to protect China's rights and interests,' Mr Wu Zhuang, the director of the Administration of Fishery and Fishing Harbour Supervision of the South China Sea, told the China Daily.

He was referring to a 3 million sq km zone that covers pretty much the entire South China Sea.

'China will make the best use of its (retired) naval ships and may also build more fishery patrol ships, depending on the need,' he said.

China has laid claim to two potentially oil-rich island groups in the South China Sea - the Spratlys and the Paracels - which has brought it into conflict with other claimants.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan have staked claims over the Spratlys. Vietnam and Taiwan have also marked the Paracels - known as Xisha in China - as part of their territories.

There have been numerous stand-offs between the claimants, with China usually involved. In 1988, it fought a naval battle with Vietnam over the Paracels.

In the late 1990s, the Philippines and China came close to war over Mischief Reef, which is part of the Spratlys, after the Chinese built structures on stilts in the area.

Nevertheless, analysts are optimistic that the current tension will not escalate.

They say it is symbolic, for instance, that the Yuzheng - the vessel dispatched to the Paracels - is a fishery patrol boat and not a military ship. That indicates Beijing is exercising self-restraint, they point out.

Also, the Yuzheng is sailing only to the Paracels, which is already under tight Chinese control. If it sails on to the Spratlys, that would be more significant because that would indicate China is putting more pressure on other claimants, said Singapore-based international relations analyst Li Mingjiang.

There is a May deadline for all countries to make their territorial claims compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The noises being made now are seen as attempts by the countries to stake their claims so as to not lose out in future.

Making their claims compliant will not mean the end of the disputes in the South China Sea. But not doing so could weaken their territorial claims.

The Philippines passed a law last month defining the Spratlys as its territory, and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi underlined his country's claims by visiting two reefs earlier this month.

Still, Dr Li feels 'it is unlikely this issue will escalate' in the manner seen in the 1990s with Mischief Reef. Escalating the dispute would 'disrupt increasing optimism in South-east Asia about relations with China', he added.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, commenting on the recent skirmish between American and Chinese ships, also downplayed claims that China was trying to prevent the US Navy from operating in the South China Sea.

At a press conference on Wednesday, he expressed hope that armed escorts of surveillance ships - which were introduced after the recent clash - would not be needed in the future.

But Admiral Timothy Keating, who heads the US Pacific Command, yesterday accused China of 'aggressive' behaviour after the showdown between the navies of the two countries.