US-China ‘grey zone’ rivalry in South China Sea may be about to intensify

Name: Diaoyu-Senkaku islands spat deepens as Japan warns China over coastguard ships in East China Sea
Uploaded: 2021-01-09T04:00:15.000Z
Duration: 1 min 56 s
Description: Diaoyu-Senkaku islands spat deepens as Japan warns China over coastguard ships in East China Sea

American plans to include coastguard in integrated naval force highlights growing role of non-military ‘grey zone’ maritime activities

New strategy formalises ways of countering China’s coastguard, which is used heavily to project power and assert claims in the disputed waters

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The US Coast Guard could form part of a new tri-service American maritime strategy. Photo: Handout

Laura Zhouin Beijing

Published: 12:00pm, 9 Jan 2021Updated: 10:55pm, 9 Jan 2021

The United States has announced a strategy to integrate its maritime forces, including its coastguard, to counter China’s growing presence in the contested South China Sea.

In the new American maritime warfare strategy for the next decade, the US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard have jointly pledged to build an “integrated all-domain naval power” and called for strengthening maritime alliances. It called China “the most pressing, long-term strategic threat”.

The strategy, titled Advantage at Sea and published last month, defined the US navy’s objectives as “preserving freedom of the seas, deterring aggression and winning wars”. It stated: “China’s behaviour and accelerated military growth place it on a trajectory that will challenge our ability to continue to do so. We are at an inflection point.”

The latest tri-service maritime strategy was the first since 2015, and came at a time when China and the US have been ramping up “grey zone” activities to project power below a threshold that could prompt a conventional military response.

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Diaoyu-Senkaku islands spat deepens as Japan warns China over coastguard ships in East China Sea

The Chinese government claims nearly 90 per cent of the resource-rich South China Sea, based on what it calls its nine-dash line, which has been fiercely challenged by its neighbours including Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. China’s claim was ruled in 2016 by a UN tribunal to have no legal basis – a verdict Beijing rejected.