China’s presence in the Northern Pacific Ocean, which borders the United States coast off Alaska, has been growing as its coast guard fleet continues to patrol the area for fisheries law enforcement.
According to Chinese state media, China has deployed its coast guard ships since 2015, when the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean took effect. The convention, which applies to areas beyond national jurisdiction in the region, aims to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources.
The continued annual patrol by the Chinese coast guard came as Beijing strengthened its presence in the Northern Pacific Ocean, including deployments of warships and bombers near the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and in the Bering Sea, and on some occasions, they were conducted with Russia.
Newsweek‘s map traces the Chinese coast guard vessels during their patrols in the Northern Pacific Ocean since 2022, based on data provided by the Global Fishing Watch website, a group that tracks commercial fishing and coast guard vessels in the different bodies of water around the world.
The Chinese ships patrolled the western parts of the Northern Pacific Ocean for most of the time, a vast ocean area situated between the international date line to the east and Japan to the west. Last year’s patrol had once approached the southwestern waters of the Aleutian Islands, the map shows.
The U.S. Coast Guard, the lead federal maritime law enforcement agency, responded to an inquiry from Newsweek that it regularly patrolled the Arctic, Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea. “The Coast Guard meets presence with presence when strategic competitors operate in and around U.S. waters,” it said.
The most recent Chinese patrol, which was the ninth time, was commenced on July 26 when two vessels departed from Qingdao in the eastern province of Shandong. It was the first time that the country’s coast guard had deployed with a helicopter for its law enforcement in the high seas.
Xinhua via AP
The Chinese ships transited more than 17,600 nautical miles during the 45-day patrol, where they observed and recorded 73 fishing boats, boarded and checked 18 boats, as well as dispatched 12 sorties of helicopters to conduct law-enforcement flights. The patrol completed on September 8.
Anne-Marie Brady, a political science and international relations professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, told Newsweek previously that the China coast guard was registered to operate in all three fishing zones of the Pacific, Northern, Central and Western, which may raise concerns from other countries as it has powers to board foreign fishing vessels on the high seas.
The China coast guard has no publicly available contact information. Newsweek reached out to the foreign ministry and defense ministry in Beijing for comment by email. The country’s coast guard is assigned to the People’s Armed Police, which is led by the Central Military Commission.
Besides conducting unilateral operations in the Northern Pacific Ocean, the Chinese coast guard also sent two ships to Russia’s Far East region earlier this month for a joint exercise and patrol with its Russian counterpart, aiming to test their ability to jointly maintain maritime security.
In the summer of 2016, the China coast guard deployed two ships to crack down on illegal fishing activities in the Northern Pacific Ocean in a combined operation with its U.S. counterpart. It said at the time that it planned to deepen cooperation with the U.S., according to Chinese state media.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Upshaw/U.S. Coast Guard via AP
The U.S. Coast Guard also confirmed to Newsweek that as part of the U.S. delegation to the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, it worked with the Chinese during the annual Technical Compliance Committee and Commission meetings, where China had shared high-level information on patrols.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and China had a memorandum of understanding and shiprider agreement for cooperation and implementation of a United Nations General Assembly resolution on large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing, which entered into force on December 3, 1993, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The memorandum of understanding and shiprider agreement expired on December 31, 2019. The agreement allowed maritime law enforcement officers to observe, board, and search vessels suspected of violating laws or regulations within an exclusive economic zone or on the high seas.
According to the Pentagon, China has the largest maritime law enforcement fleet in the world, including more than 150 regional and oceangoing patrol vessels that are over 1,000 tons. Larger ships are equipped with helicopter facilities, water cannons and 20 mm to 76 mm guns.
