In this mood, two military and political experts are watching, in their explanations to Sky News Arabia, for clues of the possibility of fighting breaking out at any moment between these countries, with their disputes piling up around the islands of the China Sea, and Washington’s intervention to arm the anti-Beijing countries in its circle.
In a decade, China has been able to establish the largest coastguard fleet and has concentrated its presence in the South and East China Sea, where the region is witnessing disputes over the ownership of islands with many countries bordering it. , namely Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Japan and the Philippines.
Intensify the Chinese presence
The New York Times drew attention to evidence of an “arms race” between China and its China Sea neighbors, stating:
China has deployed a fleet of boats equipped with 76mm guns, and has the capability to add anti-ship missiles. An arms race was launched in the region, and many countries sensed the danger and supported their coastguards. The waters around Taiwan are a potential battleground and skirmishes occur daily between coast guards. From March 30 to April 2, a squadron of Chinese Coast Guard ships surrounded the disputed islands Japan calls the Senkak. Japan responded with a plan to upgrade the Coast Guard and include it in the Defense Ministry. On April 23, one of China’s large cutters maneuvered into the path of a Philippine patrol boat, after which Washington promised to give the Philippines 6 new forward patrol boats. South Korea announced last year that it would build nine new 3,000-tonne patrol vessels off its west coast.
Under international labor law, coastguard patrols are governed by the size of boats and small arms, but China has pushed battleship-sized vessels and supplied them with heavy weapons that can carry missiles.
Beyond these movements, what Beijing considers its right to confirm its possession of all the islands of the China Sea, under the pretext that it was the first to sail there and discover them, while the rest of the countries which have coasts on the sea claim their right to possess the neighboring islands.
spark of battle
China affairs expert Mazen Hassan comments, warning that the continued atmosphere of motivation and skirmishes between warships in the China Sea could set the stage for sparks of international fighting, and it will not be limited to Beijing and Washington.
Hassan deduces the heat of the situation and the ease of inflaming it by saying:
The United States is accelerating the arming of countries bordering the sea with battleships and boats to limit China’s ability to sail there. Beijing will not change its belief that it alone has sovereignty over the China Sea. All the countries around it are at odds with China. She also believes that she has the right to own islands close to her shores. Since the beginning of the year, the region has experienced serious military skirmishes which can degenerate following a mistake. So far, no country has been able to reach an agreement to demarcate maritime borders with China.
For his part, the military expert, Jamal Al-Rifai, does not exclude the explosion of a confrontation, and in addition to his agreement with some of the reasons given by his colleague Hassan, he adds:
China is supplying its coast guard with huge ships carrying fearsome weapons to deal with threats. While the Coast Guard is responsible for carrying out inspection campaigns against smuggling and immigration, and if a military danger arises, it informs the Navy ships to deal with it, but China trains its Coast Guard to more important tasks and gives him the strength to face any military patrols. All the countries bordering the area of ​​tensions have also started to train their guards for more important tasks.
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