Sea patrol starts before UN territorial claims

by Kelly Chan

The country's largest patrol ship, the Haixun 31, and two other major vessels entered the South China Sea on Tuesday on a patrol mission about a month before Beijing and 156 other countries submit claims to territorial waters to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Liu Hengwei, Communist Party secretary of the Guangdong Marine Bureau, told the People's Daily that the patrol would demonstrate the country's sovereignty and create "a safe and clean sea for Chinese ships".

The patrol ships' duties include collecting information about the movements and routes of ships, testing wireless communication systems, monitoring whether ships have discharged pollutants and, if so, issuing warnings, the paper said.

In March, China sent its largest fishery administration vessel, the Yuzheng 311, to the waters around the Spratly Islands, an area rich in fish and with significant oil and gas deposits. The islands are also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. A week before the patrol began, the Philippines implemented a law to claim part of the Spratlys and the Scarborough Shoal.

Meng Xiangqing, a professor with the Strategy Research Centre at the National Defence University, told Outlook Weekly, a magazine run by Xinhua, that this kind of patrol should be held "regularly, frequently for the long term.

"It is not only for protecting our ships, our fishery industry and our fishery resources ? The most important purpose is to demonstrate our sovereignty," Professor Meng said, adding that half of the country's 3million sq km oceanic claim was in dispute and that the situation could be resolved only with more substantial action.

An official from the China Marine Surveillance Headquarters said China should implement more control and improve management of its territorial waters instead of just citing historical references when pressing its claims.

Another expert urged China to improve law enforcement. Zhou Zhonghai, professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of the Law of the Sea, said there were too many bureaus involved in marine affairs and the structure should be simplified.

The scholars said more problems would be raised next month when the countries make their claims to the United Nations and suggested Beijing prevent some countries from taking advantage of the territorial disputes.