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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China Turning South China Sea Supply Ships into Mobile Surveillance Bases |
| 2021-04-10 |
| [BenarNews] China is upgrading two of its civilian South China Sea supply ships with new high-tech surveillance equipment to help the vessels track ships from the United States, Vietnam and other foreign countries, new Chinese government procurement documents show. This is just the latest instance of the Chinese government leveraging civilian assets to pursue its national security interests in the null, a common practice under China’s strategy of "military-civil fusion." The project contract was awarded Thursday to Zhejiang Dali Science and Technology Co. Ltd. by Sansha City, which is responsible for administering China’s maritime and territorial claims in the South China Sea. Dali, which appears to also work with the Chinese military, is set to provide a pair of its "DLS-16T Long-Distance Optoelectronic Monitoring Systems" for use on the city’s two main supply ships — the Sansha 1 and Sansha 2 — for 3,830,000 yuan ($547,000). MULTI-FUNCTION SUPPLY SHIPS The Sansha 1 and Sansha 2 are mainly tasked with supplying Woody Island, which is China’s largest base in the Paracels and serves as the headquarters for Sansha City. Though the Paracels are claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan as well, only China occupies any features in the archipelago. But both ships have also ventured farther south to the Spratlys, where China is locked in maritime and territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. The Sansha 1 came into service in January 2015 and the Sansha 2 completed its maiden voyage in August 2019. This allowed the city’s older Qiongsha 3 supply ship to focus on supplying China’s settlements in the Crescent Group in the Paracels, state-run Hainan Daily reported. State-owned CSSC Guangzhou Shipyard International, which built the Sansha 2, said the 128-meter ship would integrate "transportation and supply, administrative jurisdiction, emergency rescue command, emergency medical assistance and island and reef scientific survey capabilities." The company also stated that the Sansha 2 would "play an important role in defending the motherland’s southern gate" — which is how China sometimes refers to its claimed territory in the disputed South China Sea. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 How much espionage is done by all the Chinese freighter ships that dock every day at San Pedro, Long Beach and Alameda? |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-04-10 14:06 |