China should use drones to patrol and defend contested seas, academics say

Report calls for unmanned systems above, on and below the water to strengthen Chinese coastguard power

Authors point to activities by claimants in South China Sea and East China Sea to make their case

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An academic report has recommended drone patrols of China’s maritime interests. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:00am, 30 Jan 2021Updated: 9:22pm, 30 Jan 2021

Drones, driverless surface ships and underwater gliders are imperative if China is to protect its maritime interests, according to an academic report.

The authors, from China’s Naval Research Academy and Northwestern Polytechnic University’s School of Marine Science and Technology, said cheap, advanced unmanned systems were needed to strengthen the country’s coastguard power.

Northwestern Polytechnic University is directed by China’s Industry and Information Ministry and has been listed as a restricted entity by the US, which bars it from full research collaboration and exchanges with the United States.

The report was published towards the end of last year in Strategic Study of CAE, a journal supervised by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and picked up this week on social media platforms in China. It said China was facing a “severe challenge” in defending its maritime interests.

“Japan perpetually violated the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, Vietnam and the Philippines illegally occupied several Chinese islands, and some other neighbouring countries made use of China’s oceanic resources with the help of major Western countries,” the authors wrote.