Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. I'm Stephen Carroll and
Speaker 1: this is Here's Why, where we take one new story
Speaker 1: and explain it in just a few minutes with our
Speaker 1: experts here at Bloomberg Wellyam. China, the Philippines, Malaysia and
Speaker 1: Vietnam all have overlapping claims and its massive waterway. Beijing,
Speaker 1: though has claimed nearly all of it.
Speaker 2: They have always seen this area as part of their
Speaker 2: historical territory from the Han dynasty until now, and Philippines
Speaker 2: claim for it in the Chinese eyes is something that
Speaker 2: is very recent.
Speaker 3: Here, yes, which are now being contested by China.
Speaker 2: We're not contested by them. Unbuilt geological findings showed that
Speaker 2: there might be natural gush.
Speaker 3: It's clearly something that has led to a diplomatic issue.
Speaker 3: Whether it's going to lead to further skirmishes militarily and
Speaker 3: god forbid any fatalities is yet to be seen.
Speaker 1: The seas around China can be rough, literally and politically.
Speaker 1: Beijing has long standing territorial claims to various waters off
Speaker 1: its coast. They've led to tensions with Japan, Taiwan, the
Speaker 1: Philippines and others. China's Coast Guard has become an increasingly
Speaker 1: important expression of these ambitions. Here's why China uses its
Speaker 1: coast Guard to push territorial claims. Our China Defense reporter
Speaker 1: Josh Hiao joins us now for more. Firstly, Josh, what
Speaker 1: are the key territorial claims that China makes over the
Speaker 1: seas around.
Speaker 2: Its coast So there are three major claims that we
Speaker 2: typically look at. One thing is, of course, the South
Speaker 2: China Sea is one of China's most extensive claims, Chinese
Speaker 2: claiming almost the entirety of the South China Sea. These
Speaker 2: waters of course hosts fishery and energy resources, and at
Speaker 2: the same time it's a water body that we see
Speaker 2: overlapping claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and even Taiwan.
Speaker 2: So it's really a very crowded area. And then we
Speaker 2: move on to the East China Sea. They're China, Japan,
Speaker 2: and Taiwan again claim the Delhi Islands also known in
Speaker 2: Japan as the and CaCO Islands. So it's a group
Speaker 2: of five uninhabited islands administered by Japan, but tensions app
Speaker 2: and flow around those waters and islands. And then, lastly,
Speaker 2: of course, then there's Taiwan, self ruled democracy that Beijing
Speaker 2: seas as part of its territory, but Taiwan insists that
Speaker 2: it has its own.
Speaker 1: Rules, so lots to consider. Let's talk about the use
Speaker 1: of the coast guard. How does China use its coast
Speaker 1: guard and how has that role evolved.
Speaker 2: So China's coast Guard performs many of the same functions
Speaker 2: as as global counterparts. So you think about intercepting smuggling vessels,
Speaker 2: investigating marine perusian, combating illegal fishing, and carrying out such
Speaker 2: and rescue missions. But then at the same time, its
Speaker 2: road has expanded far beyond these traditional law enforcement areas.
Speaker 2: Beijing is increasingly relying on the coast Guard rather than
Speaker 2: the Navy. Also its territorial claims. They're doing patrols in waters,
Speaker 2: they are escorting Chinese fishing fleets. They are even boarding
Speaker 2: foreign vessels and sometimes using coursive tactics as we've seen
Speaker 2: in the clash with the Philippines, firing of water cannons,
Speaker 2: shining of military grade lasers, and sometimes they will use
Speaker 2: the good old fashioned you know, stick and just hit
Speaker 2: each other. So they resort to all of these tactics
Speaker 2: to sort of challenge the activities of other countries in
Speaker 2: those contested wars.
Speaker 1: So what sort of resources does the Coast Guard have
Speaker 1: to be able to carry out these duties.
Speaker 2: As of twenty six according to the estimates by double Doublest,
Speaker 2: it has ninety one patrol ships. That's up from twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2: Some seventy one patrol ships, and some of its patrol
Speaker 2: vessels can displace more times than most countries heavi as destroyers.
Speaker 2: He also has a few landing ships and some logistics
Speaker 2: and support vehicles, But the patrol ships really form the
Speaker 2: majority of its fleet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that count from the naternata and ship for
Speaker 1: strategic studies. Why then does China use the Coast Guard
Speaker 1: for these kind of duties and not the Navy?
Speaker 2: Right, So the reasons there are two fold. One thing
Speaker 2: is that using Coast Guard vessels is less provocative than
Speaker 2: navy because it gives China the ability to argue that
Speaker 2: it was just conducting routine law enforcement even when the
Speaker 2: other countries see its actions as threatening or illegal. But
Speaker 2: it's not as supposedly provocative using the Navy. It also
Speaker 2: feeds into this tactic, which we call the gray zone
Speaker 2: tactic or grey zone operations whereby you are displaying your
Speaker 2: effective administration over the waters that you claim. But then
Speaker 2: it's sort like forcing between peace and war. So it
Speaker 2: makes it a little bit more awkward for those other
Speaker 2: countries to respond to the coast guard presence.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk a little bit about what those other
Speaker 1: countries are doing in response. How are we seeing them
Speaker 1: follow up to these moves by China.
Speaker 2: So one thing is for Philippines alone, which really have
Speaker 2: been involved in a lot of these clashes with Beijing
Speaker 2: in the South China Sea. For the Philippines, it has
Speaker 2: been trying to expand its fleets of Coast Guard vessels
Speaker 2: and at the same time, the Philippines is also linking
Speaker 2: up with other neighboring countries to slft heedback at Beijing's claims.
Speaker 2: So we've seen the coastguards of Taiwan and Japan last
Speaker 2: year agreed to expand joint training. The Philippines is also
Speaker 2: working with Taiwan as well to ramp up their training
Speaker 2: as well. And then most recently, like from the wave
Speaker 2: of clashes, the US, Japan, and Philippines have actually conducted
Speaker 2: a joint drill in the waters to self demonstrate their
Speaker 2: resolution against Beijing.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit more about Taiwan, because this
Speaker 1: is a special case in the context of the geopolitical
Speaker 1: tensions in the region. How is Taiwan responding to this
Speaker 1: use of the coastguards.
Speaker 2: Taiwan believes that in a scenario where the Chinese military
Speaker 2: were to invade Taiwan, a blockade would be enforced lightly
Speaker 2: by the coast Guard to prevent firm vessels from coming
Speaker 2: to taipease aid, and the coast Guard will be able
Speaker 2: to escort Chinese vessels as well, and the Coast Guard
Speaker 2: would also be able to work with the military in
Speaker 2: terms of enforcing the blockade of amphibious lending campaigns. So
Speaker 2: that's the road that the coast Guard would play in
Speaker 2: a hypothetical invasion scenario. And right now what we are
Speaker 2: observing to the east of Taiwan is that there's a
Speaker 2: more institutionalized presence of Chinese vessels, official vessels, including the
Speaker 2: Coast Guard, including those from Chinese ministries, and together these
Speaker 2: vessels really forms expansion of China's grades on tactic because
Speaker 2: previously they don't really operate in those waters. And I
Speaker 2: think the Coast Guard's presence in those waters is alarming
Speaker 2: in the sense that they are sort of asserting their
Speaker 2: sovereignty in those waters, which then by rat includes Taiwan
Speaker 2: as well, and they are also questioning ships that are
Speaker 2: passing by in the enforcement of their sovereignty. Of course,
Speaker 2: Taiwan maintained that, you know, those four ships should then
Speaker 2: answer to Chinese coastcuss curies because they don't have the
Speaker 2: legal rights on those waters. But from a foreign ships perspective,
Speaker 2: it's better to just answer to those questions than not,
Speaker 2: you know, so as not to attract any trouble. But
Speaker 2: in debt, implicity has lent itself to the credibility all
Speaker 2: the legitimacy of Chinese presencing those waters.
Speaker 1: It's a really fascinating story and one being watched closely
Speaker 1: across the region. Josh thank you very much for bringing
Speaker 1: us details of this, Joshiao or China Defense Reporter. For
Speaker 1: more explanations like this from our team of three thousand
Speaker 1: journalists and analysts around the world, go to Bloomberg dot
Speaker 1: com slash explainers. I'm Stephen Carroll. This is here's why.
Speaker 1: I'll be back next week with more. Thanks for listening.