As the risk of maritime conflict rises, China’s coastguard could be looking to update its fleet to operate far from shore with the emergence of a newly designed law enforcement mothership.
The vessel was one of a number of new coastguard ships “recently” on show in Ningbo, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, alongside various underwater drones and uncrewed boats.
The new equipment was designed by the Marine Design and Research Institute of China, which is affiliated with state-owned shipbuilding giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
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The equipment is not in service with the China Coast Guard but in a statement on its WeChat account on Thursday, the institute said the equipment was based on “the mission requirements of the coastguard” and showed independent innovation in cutting-edge technology, particularly in the field of unmanned equipment.
The statement did not give details of the mothership but such vessels are typically large and used to support and maintain other ships, aircraft, or operational units, much like an aircraft carrier in the navy.
The display of large vessels and unmanned equipment comes amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait.
Earlier this month, the Philippines said it was keeping a close watch on the China Coast Guard’s “monster” ship, a 12,000-ton (10.88-tonne) vessel considered the world’s biggest coastguard ship. The vessel, the 5901, was spotted at Sabina Shoal, also known as Xianbin Reef or Escoda Shoal, on July 30, according to the Philippine News Agency.
The shoal is part of the much-contested Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea, where forces from Beijing and Manila have had a number of tense encounters, particularly around the Philippine-controlled Second Thomas Shoal, known as Renai Reef in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
The China Coast Guard has also intensified its patrols near the self-governed island of Taiwan in the past few months following the death of two fishermen from Fujian in February in a chase with the Taiwanese coastguard.
It also continues to conduct regular sailings around the disputed Diaoyu Islands, referred to as the Senkaku Islands in Japan.
Hu Bo, director of the Beijing-based think tank South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, said the new large vessels indicated that the coastguard “needs ships more suited to its needs”.
“The industrial sector will certainly make certain modifications and designs based on naval vessels according to the needs of the China Coast Guard,” Hu added.
Last month, Beijing stressed the importance “safeguarding maritime rights and interests” at the Communist Party’s third plenum, a twice-a-decade gathering of the party’s elite to determine the country’s economic direction.
In recent years, the China Coast Guard has grown into one of the largest and best-armed forces of its kind in the world, with more than 150 regional and oceangoing patrol vessels exceeding 1,000 tons, according to a Pentagon report citing open-source information last year.
As part of that expansion, it has also been given a number of decommissioned warships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
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