China May Bar US Ships From Passing Through Its Waters
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Feb 16, 2017
In a preemptive move to limit foreign naval presence in proximity to China and especially the disputed South and East China Sea islands, China’s People’s Daily reports the Beijing is set to revise its 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law, which would allow the relevant authorities to “bar some foreign” (read U.S.) ships from passing through Chinese territorial waters. The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council announced Tuesday it is soliciting public opinions on the revisions. Think of it as an Air Defense Identification Zone, only in the water.
According to the Chinese press, the draft would empower maritime authorities to prevent foreign ships from entering Chinese waters if it is decided that the ships may harm traffic safety and order. The draft revisions would grant authorities the right to designate specific areas and temporarily bar foreign ships from passing through those areas according to their own assessment of maritime traffic safety. The revisions are based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Chinese laws on the sea, adjacent areas and exclusive economic zones, the office said.
It was not clear how China would implement and enforce this bar, or what the punishment for transgressors would be.
Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the revisions will provide legal support for China to safeguard its maritime rights.
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