Chinese fishing boats continue to gather at Ngau Yoke Reef to collect data in the South China Sea
Ngau Yoke Reef is part of the Spratly Islands, west of the Philippine island of Palawan, over which China, the Philippines and Vietnam all claim sovereignty. Antonio Carpio, a former Philippine Supreme Court justice who has long studied the issue of the South China Sea, told Philippine media ABS-CBN that this could be a prelude to China’s move to occupy and establish a naval base, and he fears a repeat of the 1995 Mischief Reef incident.
“First they (China) said they just built fishermen’s shelters on Mischief Reef. But now Mischief Reef is their air and naval base and they call it the Pearl Harbor of the South China Sea.” Carpio said.
Gregory B. Poling, director of the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, told the station that dozens of Chinese militia vessels have been anchored near the Philippine-owned islands for a long Time in recent years, and that with the completion of the construction of ports at China’s bases on Mischief Reef and Subi Reefs, China has been able to As many as 300 militia vessels can be stationed here and can be deployed whenever needed.
“The use of large numbers of militia vessels has become a key strategic deployment for China to control the disputed waters of the South China Sea,” he said, adding that “this deployment has been underway for at least a year at Ngau Yoke Reef and appears to be aimed at controlling the waters around the nine reefs (Union Banks). “
In addition, according to U.S. online media outlet BenarNews, Chinese military and other documents indicate that China’s new military base in the Spratly Islands, which is collecting South China Sea-related data to support construction projects in the area, could help improve naval weapons and underwater communications and could support China’s amphibious landing operations or other uses in the future.
This data includes hydrographic, meteorological, bathymetric and tidal data. China’s PLA Daily has noted that tides are an important factor in the maritime battlefield environment.
“In recent years, whenever Beijing has chosen to focus on something, it has stepped up its efforts to a scale and intensity that its adversaries cannot directly match.” Andrew Erickson, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, explained.
Erickson’s letter, published on the Foreign Policy website on the 22nd, opens with more than two hundred ships around Niuyu Reef, describing China’s ambitions and strategy for militarization in the South China Sea, pointing out that these ships carry an arsenal of weapons that cannot be ignored, and that the United States and its allies should scrutinize China’s every word and action, especially when China’s disregard for international regulations threatens the sovereignty of its neighbors.
“Put on the uniform and be a qualified soldier, take off the uniform and be a qualified citizen.” Ericsson tweeted, specifically quoting a headline in Chinese from China’s People’s Liberation Army Daily stating that the ships have a military function.
China claims sovereignty over the “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, but after the Philippines filed a lawsuit in 2016 with the International Court of Justice in The Hague over the issue, the court ruled that Beijing does not have “historical rights” to the South China Sea, and China’s recent militarization of the South China Sea has raised international The court ruled that Beijing does not have “historical rights” to the South China Sea.
U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken also criticized China’s militarization of the South China Sea, which threatens the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, in a speech at NATO headquarters on 24 March. However, China’s Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying responded that the “militarization of the South China Sea” hat can not be held on China’s head.
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