Halibut Hangar

Originally Published March 10, 2009; Last Updated August 05, 2010; Last Republished July 24, 2010, 2010:

United States maritime surveillance ship USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS 23)¹ was harassed by a handful of smaller Chinese ships while openly conducting operations in the South China Sea, approximately 75 nautical miles south of Hainan Island, China (aerial map). Operations were well outside China's 12 mile territorial waters as defined by United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The harassment is more indicative of pirates' behavior than what is expect from a professional PLA Navy and its sailors—at one point the Chinese ships blocked passage and pretended to ram (“playing chicken”) the USNS Impeccable. The Chinese ship came within 75 25 yards feet³ of the USNS Impeccable, which responded by spraying the ships with its fire hoses.

This is not the first time² China has wrongfully asserted its territorial 12 mile rights within its 200 mile economic rights zone—within 12 mile the “right of transit” does not include surveillance and mapping rights—outside 12 miles the "right of transit" does include surveillance and mapping rights.

In addition to the formal protest, these unnecessary provocations can be put on the agenda of the recently restarted China-American military-military talks and working group.

Web:

• UPDATED 08/05/2010 KoreanTimes, China seeking to become world power
• UPDATED 07/28/2010 NPR, The New Republic: China's Push to Master the Seas

• UPDATED 07/27/2010 NYT, China Warns U.S. to Stay Out of Islands Dispute

  It's difficult to understand why if China seeks

  “...to have these [South China Sea] disputes solved peacefully through friendly consultations in the interest of peace and stability in the South China Sea and good neighborly relations,”--NYT, quoting China Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi--

  it would decry United States' participation? (SOS, National Convention Center Hanoi, Vietnam (ASEAN) Statement and MFA, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Refutes Fallacies On the South China Sea Issue)

  Surely China's foreign minister is not suggesting United States’ participation will be other than peaceful and stabilizing?

  UPDATED 07/29/2010 For an alt-perspective read Obama Maneuvers to Contain China: Is He Using the Pentagon to Assert Declining American Power in Asia?. The blog post credits the argument that America (not China) is substituting military intimidation and bullying for lack of competitiveness (interestingly and encouragingly China and the US are using different facts to accuse each other of the same behavior). China’s assertion will have more credibility when (if) its currency is free floating, prices are not imputed, and trade-barriers reduced or eliminated. Nevertheless, the point that the U.S. and China should be cooperating and refraining from provoking or antagonize each other is difficult to dispute.

• UPDATED 07/24/2010 NYT, Offering to Aid Talks, U.S. Challenges China on Disputed Islands.

  Kudos to our Secretary of State for offering to help define and stabilize disputed international South China Sea boundaries.

  China (or other nations) should not substitute bullying for discussions and consensus simply because another nation does not or cannot use force to differentiate commons from national interests and international boundaries.

  In this regard our leadership must immediately ratify the latest Law of the Sea conventions, clarifying if necessary.

• UPDATED 02/05/2010 Economist, By fits and starts. Mostly fits right now.

  Unfortunately China leaders like our leaders will tend toward stoking the nationalism rhetoric. The rhetoric can be dangerous because it substitutes emotional appeasement for doing the heavy lifting required for long-term sustainable solutions.

  Many times leaders of a nation cynically use nationalism believing they can control the passions. But such passions are difficult to control once stoked.

  Citizens in both China and America must condemn any effort by our leaders to substitute nationalism for the hard work of ensuring sustainable global growth.

  Protectionism or terminating dialogue or inflammatory rhetoric regardless of the differences or disagreements are nationalistic and impede sustainable global growth.

• UPDATED 01/30/2010 Reuters, China threatens U.S. with sanctions on Taiwan arms and U.S. Regrets China's Response to Arms Sales.

  U.S. to fill Taiwan's purchase order (see DID, Taiwan’s (Un?)Stalled Force Modernization) for defensive systems to counter mainland missiles aimed at Taiwan and China's increased South and East China Seas assertiveness (some might say aggressiveness).

  Beyond routine and proforma expressions of displeasure China and the U.S. are expected to continue cooperation.

  It seems a little contradictory, if not bemusing that China would plead the ineffectiveness of sanctions on Iran's behalf and then threaten the use of sanctions against others.

  It's also difficult to see how stopping some China-U.S. military dialogue and cooperation is helpful.

• Other South China Sea (below southern tip of Taiwan) and East China Sea (above southern tip of Taiwan) Incidents:

  • UPDATED 01/23/2010 Economist, China's assertiveness at sea, Choppy waters.

  • UPDATED 01/14/2010 Time, China and Vietnam: Clashing Over an Island Archipelago.

    This is part of China's continuing efforts to expand and assert its sovereignty within the South China Sea (each habitable island comes with protected zones). If you use bullying or force to acquire or retain an island others are unlikely to recognize or honor the protected zones associated with that island.

    China's recent bullying of its smaller regional partner (Vietnam) is troubling—professing harmony while bullying is unseemly, unconvincing, and will only provoke push back.

• UPDATED 01/13/2010 ChinaDaily, US arms sale to Taiwan not to harm relations: analysts.

  China and the U.S may be learning how to continue cooperating in the face of disagreements.

  Exchanging the state actor's version of the schoolboy phraseology—"I'm gonna kick your ass"—then continue playing Ping-Pong.

  UPDATED 01/16/2010 Here's the diplomatic version:

  "Everyone's aware that China is a rising power of the 21st century,....But people want to see the United States fully engaged in Asia, so that as China rises the United States is there as a force for peace....What I'm expecting is that we actually are having a mature relationship,....That means that it doesn't go off the rails when we have differences of opinion."--WP quoting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--

• UPDATED 08/27/2009 Reuters, China urges U.S. to halt surveillance near its shores

UPDATED 06/24/2009 China Daily, Disputes at sea float to surface Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy and delegation head to China for two-day routine confidence building military talks (10th Defense Consultative Talks). South China Sea, Korean Peninsula, Proliferation, and Pirates are likely to be among the agenda items.

• UPDATED 06/23/2009 BBC, China and US hold military talks.

• UPDATED 06/15/2009 Reuters, China sub collides with array towed by U.S. ship: report. U.S. gets ASW practice—China gets ASW counter-measure practice—a U.S. towed hydrophone array is lost in the process⁵.

  
  USGS Atlas Bathymetry - South China Sea⁴

  Wonder if these ASW encounters can be structured as joint exercises and thereby reduce the probability of future accidents⁵?

  • ChinaDaily, Sub, sonar collision 'inadvertent'

• UPDATED 05/07/2009 UPI, Chinese fishing vessels confront US ship.

  China and U.S. have agreed to disagree on what activity is permitted by convention in a nation's economic zone as opposed to its 12 limit. Each continuing to make their point in non-harmful or non-threatening ways (if somewhat lacking in professional seamanship).

  Significantly, the USS Victorious (a sibling of the Impeccable) was unaccompanied by any American warships and radioed to Chinese ships for help in warding off its two harassing vessels—both vessels left shortly after the radio call for help.

• UPDATED 03/20/2009 UPI, China ready to end standoff with U.S.. China-U.S. decide to focus on more cooperative matters and end the aggressive posturing—Yes!, 是的, shide
  • China Daily, Sino-US sea standoff appears to have ended
• UPDATED 03/14/2009 BBC, Who's right in South China Sea spat?.
• UPDATED 03/13/2009 UPI, Chinese criticize dispatch of destroyer.

• UPDATED 03/13/2009 StraitsTimes, Destroyers to escort US ships.

  United States destroyers will escort unarmed surveillance ships to ensure they are not harassed outside China's territorial space—first to ride shotgun is the Burke-class destroyer Crew & Family Website, USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93) and NavSource, USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93).

  

• UPDATED 03/12/2009 Reuters, Obama, China's Yang discuss global economic crisis and recent Impeccable incident.

  "The President also stressed the importance of raising the level and frequency of the U.S.- China military-to-military dialogue in order to avoid future incidents."--White House Blog, The President meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi--

• UPDATED 03/12/2009 TaipeiTimes, Taiwan ‘driving Chinese military goals’. Certainly China is obsessed with Taiwan, but that begs the question, why?

  China likely feels "contained" and views Taiwan and their Texas size definition of sovereignty (China would like to define everything within the first island chain as sovereign China, not just the South China Sea.) as necessary to mitigate those feelings.

  The question keeping Admiral Keating up at night is whether China intends to impose their definition of sovereignty by force or consensus. The question keeping China up at night is how much it can provoke the United States without generating an all out China containment response—a disaster for both countries, but especially for China.

  In this context China's military opaqueness will increase distrust and surveillance missions. Transparency and candidness are keys to our mutually beneficial, and respectful partnership.

  Without transparency, candidness, and trust a mutually beneficial and respectful partnership is impossible—Keating will continue trying to figure out how many SSNs and SSBNs he has to sink should China miscalculate how much it can provoke the United States.

  Cute statements analogies about thiefs outside your bamboo fence are unlikely to be interpreted as transparency, candidness or trust.

• UPDATED 03/12/2009 WorldSocialist, Naval incidents highlight tense US-China relations.
• UPDATED 03/11/2009 Reuters, Obama to raise ships incident with China.

• UPDATED 03/11/2009 Xinhua/ChinaDaily, China lodges representation as U.S. naval ship breaks int'l, Chinese laws.

  • Xinhua/ChinaDaily, Defense Ministry urges U.S. to respect China's security concern.

• UPDATED 03/11/2009 BBC, US-China talks as sea row rumbles.

  Much of this can be attributed to China's inexperience relating to other nations—it's classic China to define sovereignty like Texans—then become offended when others ignore their Texas size definition of sovereignty.

  It seems beneficial that China has begun partnering and interacting with other nations, particularly us—its preference and tendency favors withdrawal behind walls where sovereignty and interaction can be strictly regulated, controlled, and limited.

  It also seems likely that there will be more periodic, inept, abrasiveness events as China figures out the quality and quantity of its global interaction—taking shots at responsible power nations is fun until you're a responsible power nation (then you squirt water with fire hoses instead of conducting oppressive campaigns and massacres).

  Ironically, a responsible power nation quickly learns just how little sovereignty they have—unless you define sovereignty as mess management and paying for the cost of mismanaged mess clean-up!

• UPDATED 03/10/2009 SFGate, Officials: US ship in China spat was hunting subs.
• UPDATED 03/10/2009 NPR, China Says U.S. Ship Was Operating Illegally.

• UPDATED 03/10/2009 Reuters, U.S.-China spat complicates minister's visit.

  National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told the U.S. Congress the Chinese have become more assertive in staking claims to international waters around economic zones and were "more military, aggressive, forward-looking than we saw a couple years before" in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea.

  Blair said it was unclear whether Beijing would use its growing military power "for good or pushing people around."--Reuters quoting Blair--

• UPDATED 03/10/2009 NYT, China Says U.S. Provoked Naval Incident. This is similar to the general allegations and hand waving China made about the September 27, 2002 incident.
• UPDATED 03/10/2009 Reuters, China says US navy ship was breaking law-HK website.
• China Draws U.S. Protest Over Shadowing of Ships
• VOA, Chinese Vessels Harass US Ships in International Waters

Blog:

• UPDATED 03/10/2009 FAS Secrecy News, US, China, and Incidents at Sea. Focusing on agreements to prevent such maritime incidents from occurring.
• UPDATED 03/10/2009 FAS Strategic Security, US-Chinese Anti-Submarine Cat and Mouse Game in South China Sea.

-----notes-----

1. The USNS Impeccable is one of five non-military surveillance and mapping ships from the United States Military Sealift Command’s 25 ships Special Ships Program. It’s general characteristics are: displacement: - 5,368 long tons; length - 281.5 feet; beam - 95.8 feet; draft - 26 feet; speed- 12.0 knots; Crew 25 civilian mariners.

The purpose of the surveillance is likely to aid in regional littoral submarine and anti-submarine warfare should war occur between China and the United States or a regional ally.

Fortunately, China and United States are currently increasing their dialogue and searching for ways to increase military transparency and engage in confidence building cooperation.

2. On March 24, 2001, in the Yellow Sea near South Korea, a PLA Navy Jianghu III-class frigate passed as close as 100 yards to a U.S. surveillance ship, the USNS Bowditch, and a PLA reconnaissance plane shadowed it. (CRS Report RL32496, FAS Website, U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress, Updated February 2008)

On September 27, 2002 China complained again about the non-military surveillance ship USNS Bowditch (T-AGS 62) mapping the Yellow Sea littorals (NYT, China Complains About U.S. Surveillance Ship

The South China Sea is a “sensitive area” primarily because of its potential for natural resources (gas and oil), long running disputes over territorial rights claims to some of the many islands (see Reuters, FACTBOX-South China Sea's disputed maritime borders), Taiwan’s independence, and its submarine base located inside Hainan Island.

The Yellow Sea is a "sensitive area" primarily because of ship building, including submarines, submarine base and the potential for using the Yellow Sea as a submarine bastion for China's ballistic missile submarines (SSBN).

3. Both the NYT and Reuters are now reporting 25 feet not yards.

4. Acoustically this is a very challenging environment requiring a significant amount of surveying, mapping, and modeling to understand.

5. It's likely not an accident that China is interfering with surveying and mapping by destroying the towed acoustical array. China’s efforts to interfere with transparent surveying and mapping of international waters seem counter productive, unnecessarily confrontational, irresponsible, unprofessional, and potentially fatal to both the submarine and submariners.