Law of the Sea

In response to a rising number of disputes in the South and East China Sea, China Marine Surveillance said it will add 1,000 officers this year to raise staff levels to 10,000 and will purchase 36 new ships over the next five years

Law of the Sea

A senior Chinese military official said China is strongly opposes a joint military drill between the US and South Korea in the Yellow Sea, because "it is in the Yellow Sea, ... very close to China's waters."

Law of the Sea

A squadron of Chinese naval ships, including two submarines, reportedly passed through high seas about 140 kilometres south-west of Okinawa. This was the third time in 18 months that Chinese warships traversed the area.

Use of Force

Law of the Sea

A coal-laden Chinese cargo ship with 25 crew members was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, about 700 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. As Chinese naval vessels steamed towards the ship, a Defence Ministry official said China would not rule out the use of force to rescue the Chinese crew.

On 28 December 2009, a FM spokesman announced that the hijacked ship and crew had been released, reportedly after paying US$4 million in ransom.

Law of the Sea

A Chinese non-governmental organisation called on the Chinese legislature to veto the Sino-Japanese "Principled Consensus" on East China Sea, denouncing it as sell-out of Chinese sovereignty.

Law of the Sea
Taiwan

Taiwan sent coastguard vessels to a disputed area of the East China Sea in response to the Japanese arrest of a Taiwanese skipper for allegedly illegal fishing in Japan's EEZ. Later, Taiwan protested to Japan for the way it handled the Taiwanese boat.

Law of the Sea

In the wake of of naval clashes early this year, China called on the US to reduce and gradually put an end to air and sea military surveillance operations to avoid naval confrontations. "China believes the constant US military air and sea surveillance and survey operations in China's exclusive economic zone had led to military confrontations between the two sides,"the Chinese Defence Ministry said.

Law of the Sea - Continental Shelf

China lodged opposition with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to Japan's claim to continental shelf in the western Pacific based on what Japan calls Okinotori Island. China argued that, under the UNCLOS, the ''rock of Okinotori, which obviously can not sustain human habitation or economic life of its own, shall have no continental shelf.'' Japan's Okinotori-based claim, if successful, would double Japan's maritime territory. China may want to be careful about this legal game, as China's opposition to the Japanese claim does not appear to increase China's maritime claims, but the emphasis on the appropriate base for continental shelf could backfire on China's claims in the South China Sea.

Territory - Spratly Islands
Law of the Sea

As Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia fortified their occupied islands in the South China Sea to which China claims sovereignty, Beijing asked US and other foreign oil companies to halt work with Vietnamese partners in the South China Sea or face consequences in their business with China. While the US Government would not take sides on the island disputes, Senator Jim Webb said the US was "the only guarantor there to provide a credible umbrella under which those other countries in the region can successfully grow their economies without intimidation".

Use of Force
Law of the Sea

The PLA must have taken the Somali pirates really seriously as China dispatched her third naval flotilla to escort merchant ships through the waters off the Somali coast, which included China's most advanced guided missile frigate. The move appears a bit odd, considering the naval mission was supposed to be "not striking [the pirates] but dispersing them."

Law of the Sea
Law of Treaties

In June 2008, China entered into a Principled Consensus with Japan which stipulates that "Chinese enterprises welcome the participation of Japanese legal person in the development of the existing oil and gas field in Chunxiao in accordance with the relevant laws of China". Somehow the Japanese Government appeared to interpret the agreement to create an obligation on China not to develop Chunxiao until a treaty is concluded to implement participation of Japanese companies, as Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone expressed ''serious concerns'' to China over Chinese vessels moving around the Chunxiao gas fields. China explained that the vessels were engaged in the maintenance, not exploitation, of the gas fields. But it remains to be made clear whether the Principled Consensus is a legally binding agreement and, if so, what is the scope of the obligations undertaken by both parties.