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Water Wars: Fishermen Again Steer China into Hot Water

By Chris Mirasola  Friday, April 1, 2016, 4:27 PM

Malaysian Officials Fish for a Response to Chinese Trawler Incursion Fleet


Chinese fishing vessel fleet (Photo: The Maritime Executive)

Malaysia joined the ranks of countries taking issue with Chinese fishermen last Thursday, as 100 trawlers were detected within Malaysia’s claimed EEZ. On Friday, National Security Minister Shahidan Kassim reported that the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) had sighted foreign vessels within Malaysia’s EEZ and were continuing to monitor the situation. When asked about the incident, PRC Spokesperson Hong Lei said he did not “understand the details” but that “[a]t this time of year, every year, Chinese trawlers are in the relevant waters carrying out normal fishing activities.”

Spokesperson Hong Lei’s confusion was strikingly prescient; two days after Minister Kassim’s initial report, Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein “confirmed that our waters are safe” and denied that any foreign vessels were in Malaysian waters. That same day, however, MMEA Director General Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar told the press that 82 (not 100) as-yet unidentified foreign vessels remained in Malaysian waters.

Malaysian authorities coalesced around a common narrative another two days later, as MMEA Director General Kahar accused the Chinese Coast Guard of escorting 100 trawlers into Malaysia’s EEZ around Luconia Shoals. More specifically, Director General Kahar said that from Thursday through Sunday MMEA vessels sighted anywhere from 40 to 100 unmarked trawlers accompanied by vessels from the Chinese Coast Guard. National Security Minister Kassim subsequently banned all foreign vessels from fishing in Malaysian waters, and the Foreign Ministry summoned the Chinese Ambassador to communicate its concerns and to “seek clarification.”   

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China

PRC officials spent much of the past week refuting criticisms of its presence in the South China Sea. Vice Minister Liu Zhenmin accused “a certain country” (read: the Philippines) of using UNCLOS “as a pretext” to provoke tension and denounced ongoing arbitration at The Hague. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei also defended deployment of HQ-9 and YJ-62 missiles on Woody island as “reasonable and justified,” having “nothing to do with . . . so-called militarization.”

Shifting focus to the United States, an editorial from China Military Online strongly rejected a speech last month from Admiral Swift, accusing Washington of “do[ing] whatever it wants for its own interests.” In response to questions about American FONOPS, Defense Ministry Spokesperson Yang Yujun recommended that “as for the US Ships which came, I can only suggest they be careful.”

Finally, Major General Qian Lihua confirmed that island reclamation would “continue in the future” but claimed that an air defense identification zone had not yet been discussed.

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Japan

On Monday, Japan operationalized a radar station on Yonaguni Island, 90 miles south of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. Ground Self-Defense Force Lieutenant Colonel Daigo Shiomitsu, base commander, said that the listening post would allow Japan to “keep watch on territory surrounding Japan and respond to all situations.” Prof. Toshi Yoshihara of the Naval War College noted that the station will extend a network of overlapping radar sites, “boost[ing] Japan’s ability to monitor the East China Sea.” The expanded base is part of a larger military buildup throughout Japan’s southwestern island chain aimed at deterring Chinese action in the East and South China Seas.

Regional tensions elevated further on Tuesday as Japan’s new security laws took effect. Enacted despite substantial domestic protest last September, the laws allow Japan to aid allies, including the United States, in overseas conflicts. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, heralding the law, said, “the bond of the [U.S.-Japanese] alliance has been strengthened.” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also argued that the laws are essential to protect the Japanese people amidst an “increasingly severe security environment surrounding our country.”

Chinese officials were understandably less effusive. A commentary from Xinhua said that the new security laws shifted Japan “back to a fighting stance for the first time in seven decades” and “exposed” the “warlord prime minister[’s]” goal of “rid[ing] the coattails of Uncle Sam’s ‘pivot to Asia.’” PRC Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei also denounced Japan’s new security laws and reasserted Chinese sovereignty over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. Additionally, the PRC Defense Ministry suggested that the international community should resist Japanese military expansion.

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Philippines

Military procurement was the name of the game this week for the Philippines. IHS Jane’s reports that three former Royal Australian Navy Balikpapan-class landing craft purchased by the Philippines in October 2015 have been received but are waiting for general servicing before deployment. Two days later, President Benigno Aquino III told reporters that the Philippines might also purchase its first submarine as the country “accelerates the modernization of our armed forces.” He stressed, however, that Manila is not “trying to engage anybody in an arms race, or in a military build-up.”

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Singapore

Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen expressed concern about growing South China Sea militarization, worrying that Asia “doesn’t have an equivalent of never again should a conflagration arise in Asia” and therefore is more at risk of unintended conflict. He called for increased mil-mil cooperation to prevent miscalculation and projected that Singaporean defense spending would remain at 3 to 3.3% of GDP. Minister Ng also conceded that China’s “position as a leader will have to be recognized and that there will be new rules, but China has to decide what these new rules are.”

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