© AFP 2016/ FREDERIC J. BROWN
Officials in Beijing have announced plans to revise a 34-year-old maritime safety law that would permit relevant authorities to “bar some foreign ships from passing through Chinese territorial waters,” according to Chinese state media outlets.
China and the US have maintained a consistent tension over US ships transiting the South China Sea under the banner of "freedom of navigation" patrols, and the revised law could provide China with the legal firepower to restrict access to waters it claims as its own. It is not clear what means China would use to enforce a revised version of the 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law.
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Update #1: Draft maritime law revisions say China may bar foreign ships from passing through its waters (People.cn)
Update #2: China May Bar US Ships From Passing Through Its Waters (Zero Hedge)
WNU Editor: Beijing is laying the legal framework to justify their stopping of foreign ships in waters that they consider belongs to them.
4 comments:
This is the reason that the US has pushed so hard against Chinese claims in the SCS.
This is going to turn into a game of chicken. China is going to ban mil traffic the US is not going to recognize and so a game of chicken will ensue. The US better dust off those ole procedure books for rubbing with the ruskies and get ships in theater up to speed. Would also be wise to keep our softer weaker ships i.e. LCS out of the region don't need an embarrassment like one getting sunk, crippled, or even forced into a chicom harbor like they did our spy plane during bushjr.
I agree with C-Low.
I figured the Chinese saw the various island and atolls first with their fleets.
The Chinese claim is better than the French claim IMO and the Vietnamese base their claim on the French (colonial power) claim. Still China would be smart to cut them in for a share.
I see this as more about economic rights/development than right of ways.
I think the only reason the Chinese want to bar military traffic etc is to ensure their economic rights to the region.
If they bar shipping commercial and/or military we might as well start shooting/
The answer to China is to run shipping through that territory. Ignore their declaration utterly. It's got to be done in concert, though. And soon. If China makes this declaration and no one challenges it, it'll become de facto new maritime law.
I agree with RussInSoCal
I have sailed that sea as a merchantman on a civilian ship.
There is absolutely no fucking reason to let the PRC get away with this except that we have Chuck U. Shumer, Nadler, Pelosi, ... and other assorted grifters, cowards and nobility.
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