South China Sea Forum

[EastSea]

Russia hands over Cam Ranh submarine sailor training center to Vietnam
VietNamNet Bridge - Representatives from Russia and Vietnam signed a document on the transfer of a submarine sailor training center for the 636 Kilo class submarine in Cam Ranh Bay to the Vietnam Navy.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday, May 13, inspected the progress of Viet Nam's Kilo-class submarine, which is being tested in Kaliningrad, Russia.


On November 7, Russia will hand over the first submarine to Vietnam.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, the handover ceremony will be held in January 2014, on the occasion the first of the six submarines of project 636 to dock at Cam Ranh Bay.

More than 40 Vietnamese naval officers studied under a 1.5-year program in Russia to train teachers and trainers for the center.

The contract to provide six “Varshavyanka” diesel-electric submarines worth $2 billion to Vietnam was signed in 2009. This is one of the largest naval equipment export contracts of Russia.

The leading analyst on defense in Southeast Asia, Prof. Carl Thayer, said that the military balance in the East Sea will change when Vietnam puts into use Kilo submarines.

It is expected that on November 7, the first submarine named HQ-182 Hanoi will be handed over to Vietnam. The second submarine named HQ-183 Ho Chi Minh City has been completed. The remaining submarines are HQ-184 Hai Phong, HQ-186 Khanh Hoa, HQ-185 Da Nang and HQ- 87 Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Kilo class submarines are capable of operating at sea in 45 days and they are considered formidable weapon by quiet operation, small noise and being equipped with modern weapons, including missiles and cruise missiles.

Tran Cham

 

[cirr]

CCG 2305（3000-tonne plus ）launched on 30.12.2013：

More in the pipeline。

 

[EastSea]

First Kilo submarine arrives in Vietnam.

 

[cirr]

China's first dedicated ship for underwater archaeology about to be launched：

Hello SCS。

 

[beijingwalker]

China Orders Foreign Fishing Vessels Out of Most of the South China Sea
New rules issued prior to near collision between U.S. warship and Chinese naval vessel

BY: Bill Gertz
January 7, 2014 5:00 am

China has ordered foreign fishing vessels to obtain approval from regional authorities before fishing or surveying in two thirds of the South China Sea, setting up the potential for new confrontations between Beijing and its neighbors over maritime sovereignty claims to disputed islands.

The new orders went into effect Jan. 1 after they were issued late November by Hainan island provincial government authorities.

Under the new regulations, all foreign fishing boats that transit into a new Hainan’s administrative zone in the sea—an area covering two-thirds of the 1.5 million square mile South China Sea—must be approved by Chinese authorities.

The new measures were imposed Nov. 29 and announced Dec. 3 in state media as part of a policy of enforcing Chinese fisheries law.

Chinese law states that any ships that violate the fishing regulations will be forced out of the zone, have their catch confiscated, and face fines of up to $82,600. In some cases, fishing boats could be confiscated and their crew prosecuted under Chinese law.

It is the first time China has made a clear legal claim to disputed fishing grounds claimed by Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and other states in the region.

To date, there have been no reports of Chinese maritime patrol ships taking action against foreign fishing vessels in the region under the new rules. Clashes between China and its neighbors have taken place in the past, however.

The new South China Sea fishing rules have not been disclosed publicly outside China.

At stake in the dispute are key issues of international freedom of navigation, and China’s attempt to seize and control waters known to contain large fishing grounds in addition to untapped reserves of oil and natural gas.

China last month set off an international imbroglio with Japan, Philippines, South Korea, and the United States by declaring an air defense identification zone over the nearby East China Sea. Japan rejected the Chinese claims for the air defense zone. The Pentagon ordered two nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to fly through the zone in a challenge to the Chinese claims.

Then last month a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser nearly clashed with a Chinese warship in the South China Sea near Hainan island, as the U.S. ship, the USS Cowpens, monitored Chinese naval maneuvers.

A State Department spokesman had no comment. “A Chinese embassy spokeswoman had no immediate comment.”

Secretary of State John Kerry said in Manila Dec. 17 that the United States wants maritime disputes in the region resolved peacefully.

“We strongly support ASEAN’s efforts with China to move quickly to conclude a code of conduct as a key to reducing the risk of accidents or miscalculation,” he said.

“In that process, we think that claimants have a responsibility to clarify their claims and to align their claims with international law.”

Kerry said the East China Sea air defense zone should not be implemented and warned China to “refrain from taking similar unilateral actions elsewhere in the region, and particularly over the South China Sea.”

Chinese state media have reported that due to the international backlash over the East China Sea zone, China is unlikely to declare a similar air defense zone in the South China Sea.

The no-fishing zone over two thirds of the South China Sea appears to be China’s effort to bolster its maritime sovereignty claims in that sea.

Analysts say the new Chinese fishing rules are likely to trigger larger disputes among China and other Southeast Asian states.

“This is truly significant, but not unexpected,” said former State Department official and China affairs expert John Tkacik.

Tkacik said declaration of the new Hainan maritime zone appears to be part of a policy by China of gradually tightening controls in the region. Earlier, Beijing had declared the entire South China Sea as its territory under a vague “Nine-Dash Line” covering the sea that Beijing claimed as an exclusive economic zone.

“Beijing is now stepping beyond its previous vagueness on the legal status of the ‘Nine Dash Line’ to promulgating a ‘provincial measure’ to see what the push-back is,” he said.

Declaration of the new Hainan fishing zone also appears to be designed to gradually force Southeast Asian states, Japan, and the United States to accept Chinese maritime encroachment.

Vietnam and China clashed militarily several times in the past 30 years over the Paracel islands, which are included in the new zone. Chinese ships fired on two Vietnamese fishing boats in 2005, killing 9 people. Video from Vietnam posted online several years ago also showed Chinese patrol boats firing machine guns at Vietnamese fishermen near the Paracels.

Additionally, Chinese naval vessels have confronted the Philippines over its claims to the Spratly islands, also located within the new Hainan no-fishing zone.

Other disputed fisheries in the Hainan zone include the Macclesfield Bank, located east of the Parcels, and Scarborough Shoal, near the Philippines’ Luzon Island.

China also has harassed U.S. intelligence-gathering ships in the South China Sea during the past several years.

The South China Sea was the scene of a U.S.-China military confrontation Dec. 5 when a Chinese navy tank landing ship sailed and stopped some 100 yards in front of the USS Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the Chinese attempt to stop the Cowpens “irresponsible” and said the incident could have triggered a larger military showdown.

Tkacik said Southeast Asia states could challenge the new no-fishing zone through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“China is clearly flouting [the convention] with this announcement,” he said.

Beijing will likely deflect criticism of the no-fishing zone by claiming it was initiated by a regional government and thus is not part of national policy. However, China is not likely to rescind the rules and could initiate similar fishing restrictions in the East China Sea.

U.S. policymakers appear to believe that the U.S. Navy is sufficient to maintain and defend U.S. maritime rights under international law, without the U.N. Law of the Sea convention, Tkacik said, noting that while Japan has signed up to the convention, the United States has not.

“As China’s navy grows stronger—and the U.S. Navy shrinks—Washington’s options will run out in a few years,” he said.

“I don’t know that anyone in Washington, either at State or the Pentagon, is thinking this challenge out beyond a year,” he added. “It is America’s misfortune that it no longer has any real maritime strategists.”

 

[Nike]

If China trying to put this law into legal action, they are clearly made a great blunder and it will turn some friendly countries into their enemy, don't blame us if we confiscated your fishing vessel in Natuna Seas areas or even sink them with full forces as a reply for your actions. Even if it means war, let it be.

 

[twocents]

Bill Gertz is only fit for a tabloid. Quote him at your own peril.

 

[beijingwalker]

If China trying to put this law into legal action, they are clearly made a great blunder and it will turn some friendly countries into their enemy, don't blame us if we confiscated your fishing vessel in Natuna Seas areas or even sink them with full forces as a reply for your actions. Even if it means war, let it be.

Do you have a navy to do this job?

 

[Beidou2020]

Stop posting articles from this Bill Gertz loser !

 

[NiceGuy]

VN Fishermen Mai Phung Luu and his son in Paracel isl (occupied by China )in 2011
tàu về đất liền và người dân nơi đây trở thành quen thuộc.

Người Việt bí mật chụp ảnh Hoàng Sa năm 2011 | Xã hội | Đọc báo, tin tức, thời sự với Báo Điện Tử Một thế giới

 

[Beast]

If China trying to put this law into legal action, they are clearly made a great blunder and it will turn some friendly countries into their enemy, don't blame us if we confiscated your fishing vessel in Natuna Seas areas or even sink them with full forces as a reply for your actions. Even if it means war, let it be.

Australia and China, choose one!

Australia make a mockery of your president by spying on his phone without even a single apology while US will 100 percent back Australia. To fight the arrogant Ausie, you need China.

VN Fishermen Mai Phung Luu and his son in Paracel isl (occupied by China )in 2011
tàu về đất liền và người dân nơi đây trở thành quen thuộc.

Người Việt bí mật chụp ảnh Hoàng Sa năm 2011 | Xã hội | Đọc báo, tin tức, thời sự với Báo Điện Tử Một thế giới

This fisherman has report to CMA before able to enter parcel island

 

[NiceGuy]

Australia and China, choose one!

Australia make a mockery of your president by spying on his phone without even a single apology while US will 100 percent back Australia. To fight the arrogant Ausie, you need China.

China cant even free itself from US's occupation in TW,so no hope for Indonesia to kick Aussie's azz with China's help

This fisherman has report to CMA before able to enter parcel island

In 2011, he didnt report to anyone when entering Paracel, let see if any different in 2014

 

[Viet]

China Orders Foreign Fishing Vessels Out of Most of the South China Sea
New rules issued prior to near collision between U.S. warship and Chinese naval vessel

utter bs. as usual, VN will ignore and declare such greediness as null and void, similar to your last declaration of last year.
Vietnam slams China’s fishing ban in East Sea | VOV Online Newspaper

 

[Viet]

Stop posting articles from this Bill Gertz loser !

this is a fake news!

 

[Beast]

China cant even free itself from US's occupation in TW,so no hope for Indonesia to kick Aussie's azz with China's help

In 2011, he didnt report to anyone when entering Paracel, let see if any different in 2014

TW didn't even dare to declare independent. and ROC are investing and pouring huge money into mainland China, so why rock the boat?

And you so bravado? Why I didn't see VN patrol boat enter parcel island
Cheap talk, kid.