Intimidation at sea

In January, following the inauguration of President Obama, China published a White Paper (“China’s National Defense in 2008”) on the modernization of the country’s national defense and armed forces. The paper was widely ignored in the western press; however, Japan and Taiwan both took notice. China used the paper to announce its intention of increasing its Navy’s capabilities. An invigorated Chinese Navy would allow the country to exert their growing political power abroad.

China decided to exercise their growing naval power much earlier than expected. Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that the USNS Impeccable was harassed by five Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, roughly 75 miles off of Hainan Island. According to the Pentagon, “On March 8, 2009, five Chinese vessels shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity to USNS Impeccable, in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters”

However, it is interesting to note that the USNS Impeccable was followed by a rag-tag armada consisting of:

• A Fishery Patrol Vessel
• An Oceanographic Administration Patrol Vessel
• Two small trawlers
• A Navy Intelligence gathering ship

While the situation is a very serious one, if China were really trying to prove a point, why not use a real navy vessel? Fear of retribution might have forced China to reconsider and send its rag-tag armada, but for a country that recently announced its desire to improve its navy, this seems to be an interesting move.

Chinese ships reportedly closed within 50 feet of the Impeccable and told it to leave the area. In response, the Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels. The Pentagon reported that, “The Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet.”

China released a fairly typical response that “The U.S. claims are gravely in contravention of the facts and confuse black and white, and they are totally unacceptable to China.” China claimed that the Impeccable not in international waters, but in China’s special economic zone without permission.

Throughout the week, Chinese ships have increasingly harassed US Navy vessels in the region. History shows that China might be testing the new administration to see how they deal with difficult military situations. China may also be protecting the secrecy of its submarine base in the area (off of Hainnan Island) because the USNS Impeccable’s mission was to monitor undersea warfare. China’s true intentions were probably a combination of both protecting the secrecy of its growing submarine capabilities and its desire to test the new administration.

Republic Congressman Mark Kirk, head of the House of Representative’s US-China Working Group, argued that President Obama should respond forcefully. Representative Kirk is encouraging the new administration to continue the tried and true method of treating China as an enemy. Obama should be careful not to fall into the trap of continuing failed policies toward China; instead, he should recognize that China is testing his administration. China wants to see if the US policy has changed. This is the perfect opportunity to open up a dialogue where China is seen as a partner and not an enemy. We must finally acknowledge that China depends on the US and the vice-a-versa. With the Bush administration China forced an American spy plane to land and refused to return the servicemen for 11 days. Obama faces a much more subdued confrontation; thus, a harsh reaction would be unwarranted.