China’s increased reliance on non-naval ships to assert its claims in the South China Sea is complicating US efforts to avoid a clash in the disputed waters, according to US 7th Fleet commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin.
While the US and Chinese navies are working more closely under an agreed code for unplanned encounters at sea, China’s deployment of coast guard and other non-naval vessels in the area is “a concern of mine,” Aucoin told reporters on Monday in Singapore.
He said he plans to take the USS Blue Ridge, the command ship of the 7th Fleet, to China later in the summer.
“We have all types of senior level engagements with the Chinese PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy], that we meet pretty routinely,” Aucoin said.
He said he had a “greater fear” about other actors, “whether it’s coast guard or what we refer to as white shipping or cabbage ships, not sure about their professionalism.”
Aucoin made his comments hours before a two-day summit in California between US President Barack Obama and leaders from Southeast Asian nations, as the US seeks to build a unified approach to China’s growing military clout.
Last month the US sent a warship into waters contested by Taiwan, China and Vietnam to challenge the “excessive” maritime claims of all three.
It was the second time in less than six months the US has challenged China with a freedom-of- navigation voyage. During the first operation by the USS Lassen, where it passed within 12 nautical miles (22km) of Subi Reef (Jhubi Reef, 渚碧礁) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), it was shadowed and warned by Chinese boats including non-naval vessels.
“During the Lassen one it was apparent that they were being controlled, that they weren’t operating independently, and that is something that is in our calculus now,” Aucoin said of the Chinese boats. “How do we approach that when it is not gray hull versus another gray hull, it’s other types of ships. I think we’ll see more of that in the future.”
Aucoin said there were no formal talks to bring coast guards under the code for unplanned encounters at sea.
“I know I am asking our coast guard to become more involved, to help us with these types of operations because it’s not simply gray hulls anymore,” he said. “I think having a code of conduct that would cover them would be a good thing.”
China has nearly finished a giant coast guard ship and would probably deploy it armed with machine guns and shells in the South China Sea, the Global Times reported in January, dubbing the vessel “The Beast.”
China Coast Guard vessel 3901, with a 12,000-tonne displacement, is to carry 76mm rapid fire guns, two auxiliary guns and two anti-aircraft machine guns, the paper reported.
China’s so-called “white-hulled fleet” previously involved ships armed at most with water cannons and sirens. The ship now under construction is larger than some of the US naval vessels that patrol the area.
It is to be the second of China’s mega-cutters, which are the largest coast guard vessels in the world, according to the Global Times.
A similar boat entered service last year in the East China Sea, where China is separately involved in a territorial dispute with Japan.
The country also said in January it had successfully completed test flights of civilian aircraft to a new airfield on Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Reef, 永暑礁), drawing protests from countries including Vietnam. Aucoin said flying fighter aircraft out of the area would have a destabilizing effect and could prompt a US response.
“They do have an operational airfield but I don’t know when they will start flying fighter-type aircraft out of there,” Aucoin said. “We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits, and that includes flying over that airspace.”
Aucoin called for greater transparency from China on its intentions generally in the South China Sea.
“I think that would relieve some of the angst that we are now seeing, that we are unsure where they are taking this,” Aucoin said. “What has made China powerful, great, is being able to operate through these waters. We just want them to respect those rights so that we can all continue to prosper.”
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