U.S. Navy Ship Met Chinese Vessel on South China Sea Patrol

From the Business World (May 20): U.S. Navy Ship Met Chinese Vessel on South China Sea Patrol

A U.S. combat ship used agreed codes for unplanned encounters when it met a Chinese vessel during a recent patrol of the contested South China Sea, according to the vice chief of naval operations.



USS Forth Worth

The USS Fort Worth met a Chinese military vessel near the disputed Spratly islands, Admiral Michelle Howard told reporters on Tuesday in Singapore. Its patrol this month was the first time a U.S. Littoral Combat Ship operated in waters around the islands, which are claimed by countries including China, the Philippines and Vietnam.

"We had previously agreed with the Chinese, if we met at sea, to use code for unexpected encounters at sea," said Howard. "Fort Worth came across one of our counterparts and they did do that, so things went as professionally as they have since that agreement was made."

Those mechanisms -- designed to avoid a confrontation between ships or planes that escalates into a broader clash -- may be tested as Defense Secretary Ashton Carter advocates expanding patrols in the sea, including into a 12 nautical mile (22 kilometer) radius of reefs that China is building on.

Such actions, known as freedom of navigation challenges, could elicit protests from China and pressure it to explain the rationale for its territorial assertions.

Howard declined to say if the USS Fort Worth sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Spratlys, or give further details of the encounter. Stars and Stripes reported the ship was followed closely by a Chinese frigate.

Navigation Challenges

China claims more than 80 percent of the South China Sea and keeping tensions down in the area is key given about half the world's merchant ships pass through the waters every year.

Freedom of navigation operations are not unusual for the U.S. Navy, which in the year to September 2014 challenged 19 nations, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam for the way they manage their territorial waters.

Maritime issues should not be approached with a "zero-sum mindset," Rear Admiral Shen Jinlong, commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy's South Sea Fleet, said at a defense symposium on Wednesday in Singapore. "A new security concept should be unfolded -- keep yourself safe while making others safe and jointly build a harmonious and stable environment."

"China consistently pursues a national defense policy which is defensive in nature, actively developing friendly military relations with the rest of the world," Shen said. "We should adhere to solve maritime disputes in a peaceful way, reduce suspicions, understand each other, control risks, avoid conflict and strive for win-win situations."

'Indisputable Sovereignty'

China's reclamation work in the South China Sea spans about the size of the U.S. Navy's Great Lakes recruiting command, which handles 30,000 to 35,000 people a year, said Howard, who was the first African-American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy and the first female to hold a four-star Admiral rank.

"I think it's now time for China to talk about what the reclamation of land means," she said. "There's a purpose to it and I think in terms of helping everybody who lives in this part of the world to understand the why would be helpful for China to help explain the why."

Common Rules

Military buildups can cause distrust and increase the chance of unintended clashes, Vice Admiral Yasuhiro Shigeoka, Vice Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, said in Singapore on Wednesday. Navies in the region must manage these risks and need common rules, he said.

"These common rules and codes prevent unnecessary tensions," Shigeoka said, without referencing China directly. "Lack of mutual understanding among regional navies as to their capability and the intention of particular navies could invite miscalculation and unexpected emergencies at sea."

Japan and China are embroiled in a separate territorial dispute over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Militaries should have "face to face staff talks despite tension and friction at state level," Shigeoka said.

Australia remains worried by developments in the South China Sea, navy chief Vice Admiral Tim Barrett said at the Singapore symposium. "We are concerned that land reclamation activity by any claimant raises tensions in the region and Australia opposes the use of intimidation, aggression or coercion by any claimant state," he said.

Still, the adoption and increased use of agreed cues for managing unplanned encounters at sea "creates a level of certainty in the management of encounters at sea that previously did not exist." -- Bloomberg

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