China's Research Masks A Military Agenda From Alaska To Manila
Chinese-flagged vessels are collecting marine data on an unprecedented scale, from Australia to Alaska. A state fleet of 64 civilian survey vessels has conducted hundreds of thousands of hours of operations globally in the past four years. 80% of these vessels have some ties to China's military or geopolitical agenda. Japan, India, Taiwan, Australia, and others have also reported extensive marine data collection by Chinese vessels in their EEZs and continental shelves in the past several years.
Whether or not all of this activity was illegal, states fear China's potential military intentions. China can easily commandeer civilian research for military purposes. In 2020, Australia expressed concern that Chinese vessels, although they were operating legally, were mapping areas frequently used by Australian submarines to access the South China Sea. India has expressed worries that China has been using unmanned underwater vehicles to collect data for potential military use. Civilian research vessels have been accompanied by the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese Navy, further calling into question their peaceful purposes. Some of the research vessels carry sophisticated manned submersibles, advanced sonar to scan the ocean floor, and buoys to study sea conditions. Some ships reportedly deploy sea drones and underwater glides. China has ramped up data collection near Taiwan, potentially seeking intelligence that could help with navigation and positioning in combat.
China's Standoff With South Korea In the Yellow Sea
In February, Chinese and South Korean vessels reached a standoff when Chinese research activities blocked a portion of the Yellow Sea. China recently expanded an aquaculture facility in the Provisional Measures Zone between China and South Korea. The installation consists of a decommissioned offshore oil-drilling rig and two large octagonal steel cages, one of which was in 2024. The PMZ was created by the two countries in 2001 to manage their overlapping EEZ claims in the narrow sea. The agreement allows fishing activities by both states but does not mention aquaculture, leaving China to operate its structure in a legal gray zone.
South Korea has expressed concerns about the facility's dual-use purposes. Satellite imagery reveals that the offshore oil platform has the potential for functionality beyond aquaculture. South Korean analysts have expressed concern that China's activities in the Yellow Sea echo its activities in the South China Sea, where Chinese research platforms and oil rigs eventually turned into artificial islands and illegal maritime claims.
In a two-hour standoff in February, a South Korean ocean survey vessel tried to inspect the installation, and was blocked by Chinese Coast Guard ships and civilian vessels. China soon expanded its claims elsewhere in the Yellow Sea. In May, a regional branch of the China Maritime Safety Administration declared a 'no-sail zone' and barred vessels from entering an area of the southern Yellow Sea. China concurrently established two zones designated for military exercises in the PMZ and in a zone overlapping with South Korea's EEZ.
US Chases Away China-Flagged Research Vessel Near Alaska This Week
China has also been spotted conducting research in U.S. waters. Last year, China conductive extensive surveys near Guam. The research could potentially have been for mineral exploration, but the ship routes suggest that China was seeking to better navigate the area with submarines. On July 26, the US Coast Guard responded to a Chinese research vessel in Arctic waters near Alaska, asserting the US's exclusive rights to manage the resources in its Extended Continental Shelf.
China's reaction to the US's chasing away of its research vessel near Alaska is revealing. In 2023, the US clarified its claim to an extended continental shelf, which included overlaps with Arctic claims by Russia and Canada. The US claim is based on well-established customary international law. When the US Coast Guard responded to China's research vessel near Alaska, the China blasted the US as an international lawbreaker. The Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, reported that the US 'hyping up of the 'China threat' rhetoric is only to justify the US' evil deeds in the Arctic, revealing itself as a rule-breaker and global troublemaker . . . . ' The article then accused the US of politicizing and creating confrontation in the Arctic.What International Law Says About China's Maritime Research and Data Collection
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, marine data collection must be used for peaceful purposes. A coastal state must give permission for a foreign state to conduct marine scientific research or exploration for or exploitation of natural resources in its EEZ or continental shelf. The US takes the position, with which not all states agree, that military survey operations and operational oceanography (routine collection of ocean observations) do not require the consent of a coastal state.
The Chinese vessels discussed above are civilian vessels, and international law would forbid them from conducting military survey operations. Many, if not most, of their actions appear distinct from operational oceanography and fall into the categories that would require permission from coastal states. Some reported activities of these Chinese vessels, including those around oil and gas exploration areas, imply a commercial purposes that would require coastal states to grant research permissions. China's repeated and frequent use of scientific research vessels, particularly those with military capabilities, suggests its ships are being used to advance its excessive maritime claims—not for peaceful purposes. China routinely blurs the distinction between civilian and military vehicles, thereby eroding the principle of distinction that is core to the law of war.How To Protect Maritime Rights from China's 'Research'
The US and its allies must work together to assert their maritime rights against China. The US and its allies should share information about China's maritime data collection to determine the methods and purpose of these activities. They should scrutinize each vessel involved and the type of activities it is conducting to determine whether China's activities violate international law. The US and its allies and partners should collaborate on law enforcement when possible. And if China is mapping out potential conflict over Taiwan or in the region, the US and its allies must share intelligence–and figure out how to stop them.The US and its allies should also expose China's violations of international law. As this week's Global Times article shows, China deplores being cast as a lawbreaker. The US and its allies should not hesitate to use this against China, and to defend the rules-based international system loudly and proudly. The US and its allies must demand compliance with international law with words and actions. If we don't use our maritime rights, we will lose them to China and its competing narrative about US evils
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