China's aggressive military reorganization raises fears of conflict | World

A bit noticed Organizational changes in China's maritime patrols are causing increasing concern among Western military officials and their allies in the region. They fear that Beijing is seeking new ways to advance its goals and increases the risk that an accidental encounter will escalate into conflict.

The United States confirmed earlier this year that China has reorganized its coast guard to become a military branch rather than responding to law enforcement authorities. The militarization of this once-civilian organization gives China the firepower needed to harass and intimidate ships from other countries challenging China's claims on the waterways. The change, which Beijing denies, indicates not only that China wants to pursue its ambitions vis-à-vis its neighborhood, including conquering the disputed territory and access to natural resources in the eastern seas and southern China, but that she is becoming an increasingly international enemy.

"China is still very adventurous and [it is] extend its actions to the East China Sea and the South China Sea, "a senior Japanese government official told the US News under the cover of anonymity. status of the Chinese coastguard. "

The reorganization comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping consolidated his power and positioned himself as the singular leader of this chain of command. China has also begun to reflect the way the US military organizes through what it calls "joint operations" – service branches working together during drills or rehearsals. Military activities – making it more effective in a wider range of regions and missions.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense is working to better coordinate its allies and partners to prepare for a possible confrontation, said one official, a task made even more complicated by the likelihood of a dispute over the point to know if a ship is operating under the law or arm of the army.

Other countries, including the United States, regularly employ their coastguards under military auspices, but make it clear whether they operate under the laws of war or civil law.

Tokyo has not yet seen any particular change in China's posture or frequency of use of the coast guard fleet in this region, but it shares broader concerns as to how it could do it now. A new report A US-China Economic and Security Review Committee formed by Congress has estimated that China's use of its coastguards around disputed islands and reefs "makes the maritime force a more tool effective for Chinese coercion campaigns under the pretext of " enforcement of maritime law "protection of rights."

The annual report, released this month, adds that China refuses any change in the status of these forces, "creating a situation that increases the chances of miscalculation".

"They are learning," said American Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of the headquarters who oversees all US military activities in the Pacific and East Asia. "I do not think we've seen everything we wanted to see for now."

Davidson described China as "moving pretty perniciously with his money in the region". He shared the concerns voiced by Vice President Mike Pence during a controversial summit with Asian leaders last weekend, namely that Beijing's economic development and trade policy, called "One Belt One Road "- or" belt and road "in Mandarin origin, would interfere in others the ability of countries to transit freely on international shipping lanes.

"The key is not two destroyers passing close to one another," Davidson said, citing an incident in October in which a Chinese navy vessel had challenged a counterpart American to less than 135 feet from it. "It's the strategic threat that the closure of … freedom of navigation presents for commerce."

He cited not only the traffic lanes, but also the ability of citizens to travel as a commercial airline, the ability of countries to lay submarine cables and greater communication capacity.

On the other hand, a government newspaper in China issued a comment this week calling for greater civilian presence in its reconquered islands to calm international concerns over China's ambitions. A report in Reuters quoted China's influential Study Times, which highlighted the "potential risk of war" in the region.

"The installations on the reefs and islands of the South China Sea should be more civilian and less military," the newspaper said.