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China’s coastguard faces ‘unprecedented strain’ as tensions rise on 3 fronts
- The force is expanding its fleet rapidly as it confronts major challenges – especially from the Philippines in the South China Sea
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Tensions are mounting in the South China Sea – a hotly contested and globally significant waterway that’s become a flashpoint for conflict. In the second instalment of a four-part series we look at whether the Chinese coastguard can maintain pressure on multiple fronts.
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China’s coastguard has found itself embroiled in a series of intense confrontations in three major hotspots – with tensions simultaneously coming to a head in a two-week period in late June.
In one of the most dramatic incidents, the Philippines accused China of acting like “pirates” and carrying out “aggressive and illegal” operations after one Philippine sailor lost a thumb when coastguards armed with axes and knives boarded resupply vessels.
The clash near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal followed a string of other confrontations in the South China Sea that have included collisions between ships and the use of water cannons and lasers.
Meanwhile, the mainland coastguard seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel for the first time in 17 years as tensions continued to mount around the island of Quemoy – also known as Kinmen – following the death of two fishermen from Fujian earlier this year in a chase with the Taiwanese coastguard.
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The long-running dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, also known as the Senkakus, has been less intense, but in June Tokyo said it had spotted ships armed with cannons in the area for the first time.
Meanwhile Beijing said its coastguard had driven Japanese vessels away from the disputed waters as part of the daily “rights protection patrols” that ran for 215 straight days until they were halted last week by the advent of Typhoon Gaemi.
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