China plots 33 spots for regular research ship visits, in Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, Pacific and Indian oceans
- Announcement of fixed ‘reference sections’ is a first for Beijing and includes disputed South China Sea waters
- ‘Uncertainties in survey sections’ from year to year and season to season ‘not conducive’ to studying long-term ocean changes, scientist points out
The 33 areas, or “reference sections”, cover a wide span of regional waterways – from the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea to the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans – according to the announcement from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), a top government research funder.
China operates one of the world’s largest ocean surveying fleets, with more than 60 ships in service in 2017, according to the latest data available from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, which manages the NSFC.
But the survey routes of these ships have often lacked transparency, and varied from one mission to another.
According to Leng Shuying, director of the NSFC’s earth science department: “Uncertainties in survey sections and stations in different years and seasons is not conducive to obtaining samples and information that reflect long-term changes in important ocean processes in key sea areas.”
“Setting fixed sections for ocean research has become an inevitable choice,” Leng wrote in an article published in Chinese-language journal Oceanologia et Limnologia Sinica last week.