East China Sea: why giant Chinese territory marker may be leagues above old buoy network

New extra-large buoy detects intruders to alert naval forces in area disputed with Japan and South Korea, where such devices have been vandalised

The platform adds to China’s presence in waters off its coast, which it says is now greater than that of United States

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China’s new giant buoy has been placed in the East China Sea, where Chinese claims overlap with those of Japan and South Korea. Photo: Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Published: 9:00am, 19 Jan 2021Updated: 10:09am, 19 Jan 2021

China has added a new giant buoy to a marine surveillance network used partly to strengthen the country’s territorial claims in the disputed East China Sea – dubbed a “buoys’ graveyard” after several were lost or damaged through accidents and vandalism as several nations vie for regional influence.

Deployed this month at an unspecified location in the East China Sea – some of which is also claimed by Japan and South Korea – the 15-metre-wide platform will fill a gap in a buoy network used to collect data, according to a statement on Monday by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The new buoy will help China better prepare for challenges such as environmental protection, extreme weather and territorial disputes with neighbouring countries, according to researchers involved in the project.

An important function of the Chinese network is to mark out territory over which China is in dispute with Japan and South Korea, according to its operator, the State Oceanic Administration of China (SOA), which estimates the disputed waters at a combined 340 sq km (131 square miles) – more than half of the East China Sea.

The new 15-metre buoy is considerably larger than most of those previously deployed. Photo: Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

“The buoy deployment locations [in the East China Sea] cover areas of territorial disputes and other sensitive activities to meet the demand of data collection for rights protection and to demonstrate the sovereignty of our country,” said an introduction to the network by SOA researchers in a domestic journal in 2014.

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