Anticipating Intelligence Operations: China Issues New Law, Foreign Ships Must Report Maritime Authorities

Illustration of a Chinese coast guard ship with a US coast guard ship. (Wikimedia Commons/Coast Guard/Cutter Morgenthau)

JAKARTA - China has issued a new law requiring every foreign ship to report to maritime authorities when entering the country's territorial waters, amid China's efforts to control the majority of the South China Sea it claims.

Foreign ships entering China's territorial waters will be required to report their ship and cargo information to the country's maritime authorities, if they carry dangerous cargo or pose a threat to the safety of maritime traffic from September 1.

The new regulations are the product of a revision of the Maritime Traffic Safety Act made in April by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a legislature that continues to convene while the larger congress does not.

Citing the Aug. 31 Sputnik of the South China Morning Post, which saw the recent notice of the change, the affected ships include ships carrying radioactive materials, bulk oil, chemicals, liquefied natural gas and other toxic and hazardous substances, as well as all submarines, nuclear-powered ships, or ships are considered a threat to the safety of the country's maritime traffic.

Illustration of a Chinese coast guard ship. (Wikimedia Commons/Tyg728)

The information they must provide includes the ship's name, call sign, position, and dangerous goods on board. Voice of America reported in April that the fine for this offense was $47,000.

A separate provision that also goes into effect this Wednesday, requires captains to implement emergency response measures, if a crew member or passenger on their ship is found or suspected to be suffering from an infectious disease that could pose a serious threat to the health of others. The law requires them to be quarantined and the situation reported to maritime authorities, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

As the new regulations will apply to islands that China claims in the South China Sea, many argue that the regulations aim to further strengthen their control over the islands and the waters around them.

While the islands themselves are often nothing more than a speck of land in a waterway, a country's territorial waters stretch 12 nautical miles from the coast. Kang Lin, deputy director of China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told SCMP the goal is to close the gap. which allows civilian vessels to be used for military purposes, circumventing regulations while in Chinese waters.

"We used to put a lot of effort into managing warships, while neglecting the supervision and management of civilian commercial vessels that were under the protection of civilian commercial use, but were actually involved in military intelligence gathering," Kang said.

Chinese military bases in the South China Sea. (Source: Google Maps)

In April, Chinese fishermen discovered a small solar-powered drone boat packed with antennas and surveillance equipment, which China Central Television described as "a surveillance device secretly placed by foreign countries in Chinese waters."

The three-meter-long device was not publicly identified, but SCMP noted at the time, many on social media believed it looked remarkably similar to a device made by Liquid Robotics, a subsidiary of American defense contractor giant Boeing.

The law would also affect the Taiwan Strait, which China claims as an inland waterway, as Taiwan itself claims to be part of China.

The Taipei Times claimed on Tuesday the regulation was a 'ticking ticking time bomb' for conflicts in the South China Sea, but said it would likely have little impact in the strait, as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) considers it a international straits that guarantee 'continuous and fast' passage.

​China also has disputes with Taiwan in the South China Sea, including over Pratas Island and Taiping Island, although Vietnam and the Philippines also claim Taiping for themselves. China's claims in the South China Sea overlap with several other countries, including the trio, as well as Malaysia and Brunei.

Not only that, Japan's Kyodo News Agency also noted the law would cover the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, called Beijing Diaoyu.

Fishing vessels, oceanographic vessels, and petroleum exploration vessels from many countries frequently cross into parts of waterways claimed by other countries, resulting in frequent warnings and clashes between the two sides.

To note, Beijing's negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) towards a unified Code of Conduct for the South China Sea have slowly progressed, finalizing and a significant part of the document earlier this month. Once completed, the code of conduct will provide the legal framework to regulate such maritime interactions in the South China Sea.