More on China’s Coast Guard

Posted on 21 November 2009 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

Lyle Goldstein of The Jamestown Foundation writes in Chinese Coast Guard Development: Challenge and Opportunity:

China’s coast guard entities are rapidly expanding their capabilities and proficiency. The results are amply evident in the many rescues of both Chinese and also foreign nationals now occurring in the crowded sea lanes proximate to the Chinese coast. Whether or not Beijing opts to unify its many maritime agencies in a single powerful coast guard, the increasing strength of China’s maritime enforcement capacities may well result in a more robust posture with respect to various maritime sovereignty and resources disputes. The role of some of these agencies in the March 2009 incident with the USNS Impeccable may hint at this new bearing and also to the certainty that many challenges still lie ahead for establishing enhanced regional maritime cooperation. A more subtle but no less significant implication will be China’s much higher profile in oceans policy and maritime management issues in various significant regions, from Southeast Asia reaching across the Indian Ocean to Africa. Nevertheless, there are some rather encouraging signs that China’s coast guard entities will take a sophisticated view of maritime security. The Ningbo Academy study authors, for example, reiterate this highly significant point: “Naturally, in the course of the struggle for national interests, contradictions are inevitable. The real question is what means are used to settle these disputes. Giving full play to the government’s capabilities, deploying the navy cautiously and strenuously trying to limit the conflict’s scope to among the civil maritime authorities, can avoid a resort to escalation of the crisis”.  Such reasoning among Chinese maritime strategists strongly suggests that China’s emergence as a “responsible maritime stakeholder” in the 21st century is feasible if the current momentum for regional and global maritime security is adequately supported and even accelerated.

To read the rest of the article, click here.