Just after Trump left office, the Communist Party’s National People’s Congress passed an intimidating draft law on the maritime police, authorizing them for the first Time to fire on foreign vessels “when necessary. Analysis suggests that the CCP’s vast maritime force plans are increasingly focused on the militarization of the country. The Chinese Communist Party is also testing Biden‘s bottom line by introducing this law at this time.
On January 22, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress passed the draft Law on Maritime Police. The draft clarifies the authority of the maritime police department responsible for maritime security, stipulating that the scope of maritime police law enforcement includes China’s internal waters, territorial waters, adjacent areas, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf and other waters under China’s jurisdiction.
The draft also states that the duties of the marine police agencies include cruising, alerting and guarding key islands and reefs in waters under China’s jurisdiction, and preventing and stopping acts that endanger national sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests.
Article 43 states that if “a foreign vessel enters the waters under China’s jurisdiction and illegally engages in production and operational activities, disobeys instructions to stop the vessel or refuses to be boarded and inspected by Chinese marine police, after warnings are ineffective, marine police personnel may use weapons.”
China currently has a sovereignty dispute with Japan in the East China Sea and with several countries in Southeast Asia in the South China Sea. However, some analysts believe that from a legal point of view, there is clearly a gray area in the Marine Police Law.
Chinese political scientist Chen Daoyin said, “It is very strong in administrative enforcement, but it is vague in some of the enforcement space. For example, the “jurisdictional sea area”. What do you mean by “jurisdictional waters”? You can narrowly understand it, is the autonomous region under the Law of the Sea, the “Continental Law” set the territorial sea, internal waters, etc.. You can also interpret it broadly, as long as my Marine Police Corps is on the high seas, in the shipping lanes, I have the right to enforce the law.”
Military commentator Huang Dong, on the other hand, predicted that the passage of the Marine Police Law would be an opportunity for the CCP’s marine police to upgrade their equipment.
Xue Chi, a scholar of Chinese issues, analyzed to reporters that the CCP’s Maritime Police Law, in comparison with similar legislation in some international countries, is relatively overbearing and forceful. For example, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Maritime Police Law” authorizes maritime police agencies above the provincial level to designate temporary maritime alert zones, while in international practice a country only designates maritime alert zones for military exercises or testing weapons.
Second, the CCP has a huge maritime force plan, playing the “trinity”, the navy, the marine police and the marine militia. 2018, the entire establishment of the marine police was transferred to the CPC Central Military Commission sequence; now it is explicitly authorized to use force and carry out war missions, the marine police has openly become the CCP’s “second It is foreseeable that it will expand massively, forming a crushing advantage over countries in China’s neighboring waters and posing a major impact on regional peace and strategic stability.
In addition, according to Xue Chi, the CCP is increasingly obsessed with a “policy of war on the brink” and the militarization of the country is becoming increasingly prominent. The recently passed National Defense Law adds “development interests” as one of the conditions for going to war. The CCP is not just putting on a show, but is actually preparing for war on all fronts. The Communist Party has a series of military laws on the horizon. It has a clear plan. So do not view the introduction of the Maritime Police Law and its emphasis on force in isolation. The international community should be highly alert to the CCP’s militarization trend.
It is interesting to note that the CCP’s passage of this law to deter other neighbors coincides with the change of administration in the United States and the departure of the Trump Administration, which has been tough on the CCP, from the White House. Outsiders believe that the Marine Police Law is a wake-up call for China’s neighbors.
Li Linyi, a scholar of Chinese issues, said the Chinese Communist Party is testing Biden’s bottom line by introducing this law at this time. At the same time, it puts pressure on Japan and ASEAN in the South China Sea. If Biden does not act, ASEAN will be more distant from the United States in the future.
But, according to Li Linyi, there is a saying that planning is in the hands of the people and success is in the hands of the sky. Doing so under the Epidemic, and doing so in the year of the catastrophe, may have unexpected consequences.
Recent Comments