Thayer Consultancy

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief: South China Sea: To Stamp or Not to Stamp Chinas New Passport Carlyle A. Thayer December 1, 2012

[client name deleted] Could you provide your assessment of the new gestures by China's government on South China Sea issues: adopting new passport with U shape line? What are the likely problems that Vietnam and other parties related to this dispute may face with this new action by China? What should Vietnam and other countries do in response to this? ANSWER: China is being deliberately provocative in issuing its new passports with a map claiming sovereignty over the East Sea. Passports are international documents to identify a citizen of one country and to expedite travel to another country. China is attempting to show it has jurisdiction over the East Sea with these new passports. The new passports, however, have no standing is sovereignty disputes over territory. Vietnam and the Philippines do not want to be seen as acquiescing to Chinas territorial claims by granting entry visa to holders of the new Chinese passport. Chinas actions have already provoked Vietnam and the Philippines to issue entry visas on a separate documents to holders of the new Chinese passports. India is using a stamp with its own territorial claims on the land border when issuing an entry visa to holders of the new Chinese passport. The United States has also criticized China for its actions. It remains to be seen if China will retaliate and make it difficult for Vietnamese and Filipinos to visit China. Other Southeast Asian countries, as indeed other countries in the world, should lodge a protest with Chinese authorities and ask them to withdraw the new passport from circulation. Chinas action is a deliberate breach of the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Rather than showing restraint, China has engaged in yet another provocative act. The issuing of the new passports, along with the announcement by Hainan province authorities that they will board vessels that illegally enter its territorial waters in the East Sea, is another sign that China is becoming more assertive in advancing its claims. This is a direct slap in ASEANs face after it showed restraint at the ASEAN and related summits recently held in Phnom Penh.

2 Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, South China Sea: To Stamp or Not to Stamp Chinas New Passport, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, December 1, 2012.

Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief: South China Sea: Hainan Provinces New Regulations for the Territorial Sea Carlyle A. Thayer December 3, 2012

[client name deleted] To your knowledge, before Hainans announcement the other day, has China (or any other Chinese entity) claimed the right to board, commandeer, etc, foreign ships in the South China Sea? Do you think this move by Hainan was likely condoned by Beijing/Xi Jinping?? ANSWER: All signatories to UNCLOS have the right to take action against foreign vessels undertaking illegal acts in their territorial waters (12 nautical miles). Foreign vessels are entitled to innocent passage the most expeditious route. If they engage in some other action then the littoral state can take action. If Chinas announcement only applied to 12 nm off Hainan it would be new wine in old bottles or merely restating a past position. But if as seems to be the case, it applies to all waters within the 9-dashed line, then it is a highly provocative act. I think Beijing would urge Hainan authorities to exercise their discretion softly, softly. It all depends on the first incident where it takes place and what illegal activity was involved. Given the report that a China Maritime Surveillance vessel has yet again cut the cable of the Binh Minh 2 survey ship, it looks like Chinese authorities are stepping up their assertiveness. The map on the passport is another example of this.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, South China Sea: Hainan Provinces New Regulations for the Territorial Sea, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, December 3, 2012.

Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief: South China Sea: Significance of Latest Cable Cutting Carlyle A. Thayer December 4, 2012

[client name deleted] The media is reporting that China appears to have cut the cable of an exploration vessel off the coast of Vietnam. I believe it is within the CNOOC offered blocks but this has not been confirmed Would like to get your assessment of the significance of the event, especially given Chinas recent behaviour viz. the new passports, the CNOOC block development, the ASEAN manoeuvres, etc. ANSWER: I am attaching a story that appeared yesterday in PetroTimes. The cable cutting incident involved Chinese fishing boats and the Binh Minh 2. The map in the enclosed story places the incident in Block 113 where GAZPROM operates. The incident took place at 4:05 am on November 30, 2012. The incident took place at 17 degrees 26 minutes North latitude and 108 degrees two minutes East longitude. The cables have been fixed and the Binh Minh 2 has restored operations. This incident appears to have been instigated by Chinese fishing boats on their own. They had been ordered out of Vietnamese waters by marine police but returned. The responded to the arrival of the Binh Minh 2 by crossing behind the vessel and severing its seismic cable. This incident, following the decision of Hainan provincial authorities to order the seizure of foreign vessels conducting illegal activities in Chinese territorial waters, illustrates once again that multiple local actors are at the forefront of instigating incidents in disputed waters. Their actions indicate that the Beijing central authorities must assert some control over local authorities and fishermen. The incoming government of Xi Jinping should give priority to asserting central control over the execution of South China Sea policy. At present negotiations between ASEAN and China over a code of conduct appear stalled indefinitely. Recent Chinese actions, such as the issuance of new passports with a map claiming sovereignty over disputed territory in the South China Sea, the declaration by Hainan provincial authorities, and the cable cutting incident, are provocative and against the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. In the past China has rarely taken responsibility for any of the incidents in the South China Sea and when it does it claims the incidents were normal activities exercising Chinese jurisdiction. It the central government fails to act it will appear to condone such actions. This will reinforce the tendency of outside

2 observers to link together a series of discrete incidents and argue that China is entering a new phase of assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, South China Sea: Significance of Latest Cable Cutting, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, December 4, 2012.