China starts subsidizing ships to anchor in disputed Spratly waters

Chinese authorities send 300 militia vessels to the disputed Spratly Islands daily

the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea and send 300 militia ships there every day. This is stated in its report by the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies, reports the South China Morning Post.

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After the completion of the construction of outposts on artificial islands in 2016, the PRC began to send naval police into the disputed waters on a permanent basis, according to a report by the American think tank. “The militia, which is currently formed in the South China Sea, operates from ten ports in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Hainan. Remote sensing data show that there are about 300 militia vessels operating on any given day on the Spratly Islands, ”the report said.

The center claims that the Chinese government is issuing fuel subsidies of 24,175 yuan ($ 3,700) every day. USA) ships with a length of at least 55 meters and with an engine power of 1200 kilowatts operating off the Spratly Islands.

Chen Xiangmyo, junior researcher at the National Institute for the Study of the South China Sea, considers it an exaggeration to call the fishermen part of the naval militia. “In my understanding, the police are people who undergo military training, while simultaneously engaging in other activities. But most of the fishermen in China have no military training and should not be considered militias, “he said.

The Spratly Islands are disputed by six states: Vietnam, PRC, Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei. The region of the island archipelago contains significant reserves of oil and gas: in the Reed Bank archipelago alone, there are about 50 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and over 5 billion barrels of oil.

On August 30, the China Maritime Security Administration announced that all foreign ships are required to report their whereabouts when entering “Chinese” territorial waters. We are talking about the waters of Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and others. Now foreign ships are required to report their callsign to the Chinese administration, as well as transmit information about the transported goods.

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