Admiral John Richardson has said the US will respond to aggressive acts by coast guard and fishing boats in the same way it reacts to the Chinese navy, The Financial Times has reported. The warnings follow reports of Chinese vessels blocking lagoons near Vietnam and the Philippines in order to seize shoals. The contested Scarborough Shoal has influenced Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to threaten China with “suicide missions” if it does not retreat from their waters.
Mr Richardson told Chinese counterpart vice-admiral Shen Jinlong the unarmed vessels will be treated the same as the navy because there are reportedly being used to advance Beijing’s military ambitions.
He told The FT: “I made it very clear that the US navy will not be coerced and will continue to conduct routine and lawful operations around the world, in order to protect the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of sea and airspace guaranteed to all.”
China’s maritime militia, including the unarmed boats, has reportedly received training alongside the Chinese navy.
The Pentagon previously said the fleet “plays a major role in the coercive activities to achieve China’s political goals without fighting”.
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Therefore China has been using fishing boats because it is less likely receive any military response from the US, the FT reported.
However, the fresh warning could mean non-navy vessels will be involved in “aggressive acts”.
China expert, Bonnie Glaser, told the FT: “By injecting greater uncertainty about how the US will respond to China’s grey-zone coercion, the US hopes to deter Chinese destabilising maritime behaviour, including its reliance on coast guard and maritime militia vessels to intimidate its smaller neighbours.”
Expert William Choong added the militarisation of the vessels gave Beijing an “additional military arm” to grip the South China Sea.
He said: “It’s a clever strategy because the naval ships of the other claimants will think twice before they engage vessels that are technically not armed, not military ships, in a way they would other naval vessels.
“By having both the navy and the coast guard under the CMC, it improves in wartime the co-ordination and control of maritime forces.
“As China’s coast guard is heavily armed, it is a logical assumption that it would be incorporated into military plans and operations.”
The US has conducted 15 freedom of navigation operations in the area since 2015.
The US also want allies to consider similar manoeuvres.