South China Sea Brief: September 22, 2021
I. Briefing
1. China's survey/research vessels
The Chinese survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 10 continues to operate in Indonesia's EEZ and continental shelf. However, China Coast Guard 4303 has returned to Hainan. According to my sources, CCG 5102 has replaced 4303. The rotation suggests the operation will not end soon.
Xiang Yang Hong 10 has returned to the north after several weeks lingering in Vietnam's EEZ. But ship-tracking data show another research vessel, Xiang Yang Hong 14, has arrived in Johnson South Reef while Da Yang Hao has appeared at Fiery Cross Reef.
Da Yang Hao has a lengh of 98 meters and a displacement of 4,600 tons. Here is some background information about it, according to South China Morning Post:
“With a top speed of 16 knots and a range of about 14,000 nautical miles, the Da Yang Hao (Great Ocean) has the capability to conduct deep-sea resource exploration in any of the world's oceans, state media reported on Saturday.
Owned and managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, it also represents the pinnacle of China's oceanic survey technology, the report said.
"Delivery of the vessel marks a new era for China's capability in marine resources exploration and research … and [will help to] maintain the country's interests in the international sea area."
These movements show China's increasing use of its artificial islands in the Spratly Islands as forwarding bases for research and survey vessels in the southern parts of the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, in addition to research vessel Shen Kuo, the comprehensive electronic information experimental ship Dian Ke 1 was also spotted in the Philippines' EEZ.
2. Coast Guard
CCG 5303 was seen at the south of Vanguard Bank. This is the area China Coast Guard vessels usually anchor before heading to harass Vietnam's offshore platforms. But now it has a new target - Indonesia.
Another vessel from Qingdao CCG 6305 is sailing to Sanya. It is the second vessel of the North Sea Subbureau deployed to the South China Sea recently, after CCG 6307.
USCGC Munro was seen heading to Natuna Sea after a PASSEX with Indonesia's patrol ship KN Pulau Dana-323 in Singapore Strait on September 20.
3. Aircraft carriers
A C-2A Greyhound plane was spotted flying near the northern entrance of the Malacca Strait on September 21. That suggests USS Ronald Reagan is about to navigate through the strait and enter the South China Sea.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier returned to Qingdao port after about ten days of training in the Bohai Sea while the Shandong is still at sea.
II. Longer reads
China Survey Ship Lingering in EEZ Poses Dilemma for Indonesia - RFA
“This is the exact same playbook we saw Beijing use against Vietnam in late 2019 and Malaysia in early 2020,” said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., referring to past incidents where Chinese survey vessels have loitered in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of neighboring countries, where oil and gas exploration was underway.
PLA holds Y-20 aircraft transport mission, landing drills in South China Sea - Global Times
This means that the PLA airfields in the South China Sea can host large transport aircraft, which can transport a relatively large number of troops and numerous pieces of equipment between the islands and reefs and the mainland very fast, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday.
It showed that the PLA can reinforce South China Sea islands and reefs in rapid response missions, the expert said, noting that it also indicates that the PLA Air Force has more Y-20s in active service that are being used in more types of missions.
Duterte: No country ‘can diminish’ importance of South China Sea arbitral award - ABS CBN
Duterte said the 2016 ruling by the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration and the 1982 UNCLOS that recognized states' exclusive economic zones "provide a clear path towards a just, fair, and win-win solution for all."
"The award must be seen for what it is — a benefit across the board to all who subscribe to the majesty of the law," the Philippine leader said in a recorded message to the UN General Assembly.
"No amount of willful disregard by any country, however big and powerful, can diminish the arbitral award’s importance," Duterte said in his 15-minute speech.
Australia, Vietnam navies boost maritime security cooperation - Hanoi Times
Australian and Vietnamese navies will engage in a series of activities, including maritime training in the waters off Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay in a four-day port call starting Sept. 20 paid by Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2021 (IPE21) Task Group.
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Other activities in Vietnam include virtual exchanges on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations; gender, peace, and security; maritime security cooperation; and maritime training activities focusing on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES); a linkup between young ADF officers and cadets from the Vietnam Naval Academy.
Australia’s submarines make waves in Asia long before they go to sea - The New York Times
In response, China may step up its military modernisation, especially in technology able to stymie the submarines. And by confirming the Biden administration’s determination to take on Chinese power in Asia, the new weapons deal may tilt other big military spenders like India and Vietnam into accelerating their own weapons plans.
Countries trying to stay in the middle, like Indonesia, Malaysia and others, face a potentially more volatile region and growing pressure, as Australia did, to choose sides between Washington and Beijing.
Factbox: An intensifying arms race in Asia - Reuters
China builds 10 new airbases along the Line of Actual Control - Telegraph India
“Intelligence reports suggest the Chinese have built at least 10 new airbases along the LAC in Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. This is very serious considering the 16-month-old border standoff in eastern Ladakh,” a security official attached to the Union home ministry said.
He said the Chinese army had earlier built additional military camps as well as watchtowers with CCTV cameras atop them inside India-claimed lines in Ladakh to monitor Indian troop deployment.