Enforcing laws and order in China's territorial waters, EEZ and other disputed waters
Garrison/HQ
Qingdao, Shanghai, and Guangzhou
Equipment
400 vessels and 10 aircraft
Insignia
Flag
Racing stripe
Military unit
China Marine Surveillance (CMS; Chinese: 中国海监; pinyin: Zhōngguó Hǎijiān) was a maritime surveillance agency of China.[1]
Patrol vessels from China Marine Surveillance was commonly deployed to locations in the South China Sea and East China Sea where China has territorial disputes over islands with its neighbors.[2][3][4][5][6] The CMS has played a central role in China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, encountering opposition from Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in the disputed territories, as China tries to lock up natural resources to meet its demands as the world's largest energy consumer.[7]
One senior US naval intelligence officer has suggested that the mission of China Marine Surveillance was to "harass other nations into submitting to China's expansive claims."[6]
The agency has been disbanded in July 2013 and has now been merged, along with three other similar agencies,[8] with the China Coast Guard.[9]
Organization and function
Established 1998, the CMS, charged with the supervisory responsibility[clarification needed] for some 3 million square kilometers of Chinese declared territorial waters, employs some 7,000 individuals and operates some 10 aircraft, including at least one Mil Mi-8 helicopter and two Harbin Y-12 utility planes, and 400 seagoing vessels.(Two Harbin Y-12 aircraft seen at Guilin airfield on a number of occasions in August 2013.) It has grown in fleet size and capability.[citation needed] Its fleet was made up of, in part, destroyers and other former Chinese Navy vessels.[10]
In March 2013, China announced it shall create a unified Coast Guard commanded by the State Oceanic Administration. The move has now merged China Marine Surveillance with the China Coast Guard.[11]
All six of the Chinese ships had left the waters by the afternoon. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters "We strongly request that the Chinese authorities leave our territory". China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded and described the patrol as a "rights defense law enforcement action, to reflect the Chinese government's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and safeguard China's maritime rights and interests."
JCG ships warned the CMS ships to leave the area. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed "regret" over the incident when he attended a meeting of the Japanese House of Councillors Committee on Appropriations. Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chikao Kawai called in Cheng Yonghua, the China's ambassador to Japan, and raised a "strong protest" against China's actions. Kawai requested CMS ships to leave, which was denied by Cheng. Cheng reiterated China's stance that China owns indisputable sovereignty over Senkaku Islands and did not accept the protest.
JCG ships warned the CMS ships to leave the area. The chair of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Shinsuke Sugiyama called Han Zhiqiang, the Chinese envoy to Japan, and protested this incident. China did not accept the protest.
JCG ships warned the CMS ships to leave the area. The chair of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Shinsuke Sugiyama called Han Zhiqiang, the Chinese envoy to Japan, and protested this incident. China did not accept the protest.