{"id":25749,"date":"2016-04-05T14:30:49","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T04:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=25749"},"modified":"2023-01-12T16:09:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T05:09:21","slug":"australia-must-respond-to-chinas-little-green-fishermen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-must-respond-to-chinas-little-green-fishermen\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia must respond to China\u2019s \u2018little green fishermen\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nChina\u2019s militarised fishing fleet is Beijing\u2019s analogue to Russia\u2019s \u2018<\/span>little green men<\/span><\/a>\u2019. The protection of<\/span> \u2018innocent actors\u2019<\/span><\/a> from local authorities (for instance, the Indonesian Coast Guard lawfully defending its EEZ) is only the latest event in which Chinese coast guard vessels were empowered to conduct acts of war.<\/span><\/p>\n

Article 62<\/span><\/a> of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) stipulates that \u2018<\/span>Nationals of other States fishing in the exclusive economic zone shall comply with the conservation measures and with the other terms and conditions established in the laws and regulations of the coastal State<\/span>.\u2019 Foremost among those \u2018other terms\u2019 for fishermen must be having permission to fish inside another nation\u2019s EEZ in the first place. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chinese fishermen had no such permission ahead of the<\/span> 19 March confrontation<\/span><\/a>, and Indonesian authorities seized both boat and crew. Chinese authorities intervened in order to prevent Indonesia from enforcing its own laws within its EEZ\u2014laws that would have seen <\/span>Kway Fey 10078<\/span><\/i> summarily sunk. Indonesia\u2019s \u2018<\/span>you cheat, you sink<\/span><\/a>\u2019 policy toward illegal fishing, the brainchild of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, is<\/span> immensely popular<\/span><\/a> in Indonesia, though it has only been applied<\/span> once<\/span><\/a> in<\/span> previous encounters<\/span><\/a> with illegal Chinese fishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indonesia\u2019s seizure of <\/span>Kway Fey <\/span><\/i>on 19 March was fully<\/span> justified<\/span><\/a> by its domestic laws as well as UNCLOS. China\u2019s shamelessly brazen and disproportionate response is synonymous with its overall defiance of international norms in defence of conveniently ill-defined \u2018<\/span>traditional Chinese fishing grounds<\/span><\/a>.\u2019 It fits into the pattern of recent Chinese activities to assert dominance over the South China Sea. \u00a0It also puts China\u2019s neighbours on notice that they shouldn\u2019t expect China to adhere to international agreements if Beijing determines that its interests aren\u2019t served by doing so. In fact, observers now<\/span> speculate<\/span><\/a> that China seeks to present its<\/span> control of the South China Sea<\/span><\/a> as a <\/span>fait accompli<\/span><\/i>, reinforced by the forward deployment of what China\u2019s foreign ministry describes as \u2018<\/span>defensive<\/span><\/a>\u2019 military systems onto land masses in the<\/span> Paracel<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Spratly<\/span><\/a> islands. In addition, China has enhanced the \u2018gray zone\u2019 roles of both its coast guard and its naval paramilitary force.<\/span> Just last week<\/span><\/a> China engaged in maritime \u2018lawfare\u2019 by using China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels to escort unflagged Chinese fishing vessels into Malaysia\u2019s EEZ (again, without prior permission and in defiance of international law.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The CCG<\/span> operates more than 300 vessels<\/span><\/a>, over 100 of which are capable of off-shore operations far from China\u2019s coastline. Together Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam possess fewer than 40 coast guard vessels of all types. Thus, China\u2019s superiority in maritime lawfare is both quantitatively and qualitatively unassailable. That gives China immense leverage in any dispute, and reinforces its refusal to conduct multilateral discussions to solve multi-party disputes.<\/span><\/p>\n

More insidious from a regional stability perspective is the<\/span> growth and mission expansion<\/span><\/a> of the Maritime Militia. Originally designed to augment the naval reserve, since about 2012 the maritime militia has added \u2018rights protection\u2019 to its portfolio. Moreover, China\u2019s fishing fleet is closely integrated into the Fisheries Law Enforcement agency of the Maritime Militia. That explains the rapid response of CCG vessels to <\/span>Kway Fey\u2019s<\/span><\/i> seizure\u2014the vessel most likely possessed a military-grade transmitter linked directly to Chinese authorities. Thus, China can calibrate at will the implications of any encounter at sea between Chinese fishermen and another nation. For example, should Indonesia again seize a Chinese fishing vessel, China could invoke<\/span> Article 95<\/span><\/a> of UNCLOS and demand immunity for its vessels owing to their Maritime Militia affiliation (and thus technically a \u2018warship\u2019) or even characterise the seizure of its vessels as a <\/span>casus belli<\/span><\/i>. Such a potentiality must give all of China\u2019s neighbours pause, and reinforces the urgency of adopting Singapore\u2019s<\/span> recent proposal<\/span><\/a> to extend the Conduct for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) protocols to those involving coast guard vessels.<\/span><\/p>\n

China is engaged in a multi-faceted campaign to dominate the South China Sea in order to reduce all of Southeast Asia to tributary status. Australia has a<\/span> vital stake<\/span><\/a> in preventing this outcome and in upholding international law; it can no longer sit back and let the US<\/span> bear the entire burden<\/span><\/a>. In the spirit of the Defence White Paper, Australia should immediately offer to augment Indonesian and Malaysian coast guard operations in defence of their EEZs, either unilaterally\u2014through Australia\u2019s<\/span> membership<\/span><\/a> in the Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting regime\u2014or through the newly-instituted<\/span> Experts\u2019 Group Meetings<\/span><\/a> of the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum. Doing so will help those nations buy time to enhance their own maritime law enforcement capabilities. Just as important, it will demonstrate the Turnbull government\u2019s commitment to meeting all four of the objectives for international engagement laid out in the White Paper: enhance ADF capability; generate and sustain Australia\u2019s regional and global influence; generate active and effective security partnerships; and enhance international security resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s militarised fishing fleet is Beijing\u2019s analogue to Russia\u2019s \u2018little green men\u2019. The protection of \u2018innocent actors\u2019 from local authorities (for instance, the Indonesian Coast Guard lawfully defending its EEZ) is only the latest event …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":477,"featured_media":25753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,971,3430,471,269],"class_list":["post-25749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-illegal-fishing","tag-maritime-militia","tag-south-china-sea","tag-unclos"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia must respond to China\u2019s \u2018little green fishermen\u2019 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-must-respond-to-chinas-little-green-fishermen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia must respond to China\u2019s \u2018little green fishermen\u2019 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China\u2019s militarised fishing fleet is Beijing\u2019s analogue to Russia\u2019s \u2018little green men\u2019. 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