China warships conduct dangerous combat drill in secret sea

China’s Communist Party tried to keep secret the location of a dangerous exercise at sea. But they may not have been clever enough.

China has conducted a live-fire drill in a “far sea”, without saying where the dangerous exercise took place. But clues point to it being near a remote, disputed US military base.

The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command conducted weapons tests to practice its defence against missile attack, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday.

The South China Morning Post, now subject to Beijing’s draconian Hong Kong ‘national interest’ laws, says the exercise practised “response to repeated attacks far offshore”.

Exactly where and when was not revealed.

But recent Communist Party reporting paints a picture of “tit-for-tat” signalling.

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PLA Navy Type 071 amphibious transport dock Yuzhao-class vessels Changbai Shan (989), Wuzhi Shan (987), and Kunlun Shan (998) in the South China Sea with combat training - February 1, 2021 #changbaishan#wuzhishan#kunlunshan

* photo posted on PLAN FB page pic.twitter.com/SDL5jveQYG

— WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) February 1, 2021

The Morning Post revealed the warships involved were the Type 052D destroyer Yinchuan, Type 054A frigate Hengyang, the Type 071 amphibious assault ship Wuzhishan and the Type 901 supply ship Chagan Hu – along with an unidentified “electronic surveillance ship”.

“Such missions enable the PLA to get familiar with the high seas as China eyes to build a bluewater navy,” reports the Communist Party’s Global Times. The mission was as much a demonstration of China’s growing international reach as it was to practice combat capabilities.

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The 3 ships of the #Chinese#PLAN#Navy's 34th Escort group conducting gunnery exercises in the Gulf of Aden. Type 052D #destroyer YINCHUAN 175, Type 054A #frigate YUNCHENG 571 and supply ship WEISHANHU 887 left China 23 Dec and arrived on station 17 Jan https://t.co/kkiDjwZL1Mpic.twitter.com/Y98bjdFuUD

— Chris Cavas (@CavasShips) February 18, 2020

“The missions allow the PLA Navy to test its capabilities and hone skills in waters far from the mainland, where the service has less experience and understanding in terms of hydrological information, maritime environment and others,” the state-controlled news source reads.

But an earlier article from the same source may give the game away.

‘CROSSING THE LINE’

The Chinese flotilla leader, the Type 052D destroyer Yinchuan, has recently been reported operating off the African Gulf of Aden. China has built a large naval dockyard and maintenance facility in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa.

The Yinchuan was reported leading the “175 flotilla expedition group” that crossed the equator at an undisclosed location on Thursday. A PLAN video was released late last week showing the ships’ crews conducting “line-crossing” ceremonies. Once again, the location of the fleet was not revealed.

“The flotilla was sailing south and sailors have been conducting highly intensive combat preparedness exercises every day,” the Global Times declared at the time.

Usually, navies will declare a no-go zone in advance of live weapons tests to avoid accidental casualties. In this case, China gave no such warning.

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The guided-missile destroyer Yinchuan fires its antimissile gun at a mock target. Picture: People’s Liberation Army / Chinamil.

The most obvious point of interest south of the Arabian Sea and over the equator into the Indian Ocean is the distant island of Madagascar. There’s also the Seychelles archipelago, where Beijing recently built a new embassy.

But, lost in the depths of the Indian Ocean is the tiny British Territory of the Chagos Archipelago. Among that cluster of islands is Diego Garcia – the site of a major US naval and air base.

Diego Garcia was a key component of Cold War operations against Soviet activity in the Indian Ocean. It came to prominence again as a base for long-range bombers against Afghanistan and Iraq.

Significantly, the International Court of Justice in 2019 declared Britain’s claim to the islands as illegitimate. They rightfully belong to Mauritius, it ruled.

INTERNATIONAL RULES-BASED ORDER

China’s arbitrary occupation of remote reefs in the South China Sea has drawn much criticism from the West in recent years. As has its conversion of these tidal features into heavily fortified artificial islands.

The International Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled in favour of a Philippines appeal against China’s claim. It found that Beijing had no historical precedent for ownership and that the features fell far outside its jurisdiction as defined by the UN’s International Law of the Sea.

Its claim of sovereign ownership of the entire East and South China Seas has also been widely disputed, with the US, in particular, conducting regular ‘freedom of navigation’ exercises through the region.

Rigid hull inflatable boat RHIB deployed by the guided-missile frigate Yuncheng (Hull 571) sail at high speed during training in February 2020. Picture: Chen Runchu Chinamil.

Now that an international court has ruled against the occupation of the Chagos Archipelago by Britain, respect for the international rule law is once again being called into question.

“In its swing toward competition with Beijing, the US has made every effort to draw attention to China’s disregard for international law, while conveniently ignoring that law’s application to the US military presence on Diego Garcia,” Pacific Forum WST-Handa Fellow Blake Herzinger writes for the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter magazine. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/power-example-american-presence-diego-garcia

This undermines its position as a champion of an international rules-based order, he says.

“By demanding China conform to the rules-based order, the US and the UK have set a narrow rhetorical gate through which they themselves must walk,” Herzinger notes. “The US is not inclined to abandon its strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean, nor is the UK’s Conservative government prepared to relinquish its claims to this colonial holdover.”

Mauritius, however, has repeatedly offered to renew the US 99-year-lease on its facilities.

“Thus, the Biden administration has an opportunity to remove tension between its hard strategic interests and its declared support for a rules-based order.”

TERRITORIAL TUSSLE

As China’s flotilla conducted its unannounced live-fire exercise in the Indian Ocean, the Biden administration maintained its high tempo of operations in the South China Sea.

Chinese state-controlled university think tank The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative says a US surveillance ship has been loitering near the disputed Paracel Islands between China and Vietnam since Tuesday last week.

USNS Impeccable is sailing around the Paracel Islands, and where is the destination? This kind of regular track points is unusual for a reconnaissance ship in this area. pic.twitter.com/DEcKbz0nV2

— SCS Probing Initiative (@SCS_PI) February 26, 2021

“USNS Impeccable is sailing around the Paracel Islands, and where is the destination? This kind of regular track points is unusual for a reconnaissance ship in this area,” the Communist Party think tank tweeted Friday.

An underwater survey drone was stolen from the Impeccable by Chinese naval vessels in 2009, sparking an international incident. In recent years, Beijing has intensified its own underwater surveys of the area.

USAF RC-135U is busing in operating over #SouthChinaSea, Feb 27. pic.twitter.com/ldkqEceeaM

— SCS Probing Initiative (@SCS_PI) February 27, 2021

Meanwhile, a US RC-135U surveillance aircraft had been tracked near the disputed Pratas Atoll between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Claimed by Taiwan, Pratas is positioned at a strategic position at the top of the South China Sea. Long-range bombers based on mainland China must fly in its vicinity en route to the troubled waters. It has been the site of significant Chinese ‘presence’ operations in recent months, with combat aircraft, fishing militia, survey vessels and coast guard ships almost constantly crossing its territorial lines.

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @JamieSeidel