South China Sea: Chinese coastguard ships, warplanes engaged in ‘parallel escalation’ off Malaysia, US think tank says

A controversial incident that saw 16 Chinese military aircraft near Malaysian air space in late May coincided with similar activity by Chinese coastguard vessels in the area, and may have been part of “parallel escalation” efforts aimed at challenging energy exploration activities in the South China Sea, a US think tank said.

Unreported minor stand-offs between China and Southeast Asian claimant states are continuing, details in the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) report published on Thursday suggested, despite recent moves to hasten the introduction of a code of conduct for the disputed waterway.

This data showed a Chinese coastguard vessel operating near the Kasawari gas field off the coast of Malaysia’s Sarawak state on June 4, it said – soon after a pipe-laying vessel hired by Malaysia had arrived in the area.

Five days earlier, on May 31, Malaysia scrambled jets to intercept 16 Chinese military transport aircraft on an unannounced patrol that the Royal Malaysian Air Force said had come close to violating the Southeast Asian country’s airspace, putting civilian flights in the area at risk.