joshuatree
Captain
Precisely, any confrontation between the two, it would mean Japan CG would fire the first shot.
China Coast Guard and Patrol vessels
- Thread starter crobato
- Start date
Precisely, any confrontation between the two, it would mean Japan CG would fire the first shot.
As do the South Koreans, Philippines, Vietnam, etc., along with Japan All of their coast guards are armed, whom in their Cina Sea disputes the Chinese Maritime Patrol vessels may run cross and have to del with.
Part of it is that China is trying to play a gentle hand. They've never sent military ships into these disputes, but I think the game will change if CCG cutters are suddenly hauling 76mmers.
Chances are international/western media would end up spinning the development into a "provocation" too, considering many are already placing grief on the Chinese side despite their ships being purely CG, maritime surveillance, FLEC, etc, and all being unarmed.
I think it is best if the Chinese side remains unarmed, just so if a spark does explode, no blame can be put on the chinese side. And their deterrence against being fired at by opposing forces is their navy and air force.
I'm sure vietnam and phillippines would rue the day if one of their cutters fired at (or sunk) a CCG cutter as that would almost certainly invite PLAN or PLAAF retaliation, either by sending in surface ships and/or maritime strikers in an operation praying mantis style retaliation.
And I'm sure the Japanese are even more wary of starting an armed clash, lest such a conflict spiral into WWIII.
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That said, I think the two 12,000 ton cutters that JNCX will build will probably be the big stick of china's maritime surveillance and I expect they will be relatively well armed and would probably accommodate more than one helicopter too.
Basically they'll be the ultimate ship that china can deploy into a disputed zone without militarizing the situation.
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There is. At this time actual shooting is more fraught with long term geopolitical danger for China than for either Japan or Philippines.
Blackstone
Brigadier
So in your opinion, it's just peachy for every other CG to arm their cutters, but not China's? How do you suppose your average Chinese national would feel about that?
Part of essence of good governance lies in not let the average people's feelings get in the way of the average people's welfare.
Blackstone
Brigadier
You're probably right. Both Japan and the Philippines know time is on China's side, that's probably they're trying to force the issue now.
Blackstone
Brigadier
Dude, we live in the real world.
It's not that I think it's peachy for other CGs to have armed cutters, but rather that it serves China's interests better to leave their cutters unarmed for the time being.
I think your average chinese national would be fine, as long as they know they have a strong navy and air force to back up their unarmed cutters if it ever comes to blows.
The cutters are there to maintain a chinese presence until such a time when china's economic, political, and military power allows it to negotiate a settling of the disputes on favourable terms.
The unarmed state of chinese cutters also means, if there ever is a firefight and a CMS or CCG cutter gets holed or even sunk, then media and thus international opinion will at least have less ammunition to use against an inevitable PLA retaliation. But the whole point is that the other sides will know sinking a chinese cutter will invite military response, effectively giving them an open pass to navigate competitively in disputed waters.