The 2013 CCG did not become an integrated service and the intended synergies failed to materialize. The founding organizations retained separate identities, missions, and cultures.[5] The chain of command was unclear. The MPS had the authority to give "operational guidance". Meng Hongwei, a vice-minister of the MPS, was head of the CCG. The MPS also staffed the nominally civilian CCG with personnel from its own paramilitary PAP.[8] By April 2018, the CCG was unable to resolve these problems.[5]
The CCG was reorganized in 2018 to be a part of the Chinese armed forces. The PAP was subordinated only to the Central Military Commission and received control of the CCG. By 2019, the CCG was commanded by Rear Admiral Wang Zhongcai of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The SOA was abolished[8] with most of its civilian researchers and administrators transferring to the Ministry of Natural Resources, which "renounced any role in maritime law enforcement". Local CMS and CFLE units remained separate.[5] On 22 June, the NPC authorized the transfer of the CCG to the PAP on 1 July;[9] The CCG's missions were unchanged by the reforms.[5]
Legal reform followed the 2018 reorganization. When the CCG was created it continued to operate under the pre-2013 legal framework used by the separate organizations. In 2020, the CCG's role in maritime criminal cases was clarified.[5] in January 2021, the NPC passed a law standardizing CCG operations and clarifying the authorization for the use of force;[10] the law permitted the use of lethal force to enforce Chinese territorial claims.[11][12]
In June 2024, the CCG was authorized to detain foreign vessels and persons for up to 60 days.[13]
Functions
The CCG duty is to perform regular patrols and reactive actions (such as Search and Rescue) on the coastal, near sea, and open ocean areas of its jurisdiction (and international waters). These actions include principally law enforcement tasks such as interdicting smuggling, illegal fisheries control, and protecting the environment (such as stopping coral fishing and pollutant dumping).[14]
The CCG also serves as an armed border guard, protecting China's claimed maritime borders, which often leads to conflict and controversy. As a constituent part of the Chinese Armed Forces (being subordinate to the PAP), on wartime it would be placed under the operational control of the People's Liberation Army Navy, in which case it would be likely to play support roles and rear-area escort (like its USCG counterparts, which is also a branch of the military, its ships are not equipped for full military combat).[citation needed]
Law enforcement
The first set of duties of the CCG according to the China Coast Guard Law include seven law enforcement tasks:
coordinating and guiding local maritime law enforcement.
Maritime safety
Another set of responsibilities come from Maritime safety. While maritime safety, SAR, and the enforcement of the rules of marine safety is the main remit of the China Maritime Safety Administration, and the leading organ in active SAR is the China Rescue and Salvage Bureau, the CCG, as the main maritime law enforcement agency, is involved very often in rescue operations.[18] It also supports the CMSA in enforcing maritime safety rules and inspect ships suspected of presenting risks to navigation.[citation needed]
International cooperation
International cooperation and coordination is one of the official tasks of the CCG. Part of this is cooperation with friendly nations for mutually beneficial tasks (such as cooperating with Russia in fishery operations, as part of the plan for the opening and operation of an Arctic passage).[19][20] More critical is cooperation with neighboring states on matters of mutual interest, in particular fisheries and smuggling. The frequency of that cooperation often correlates with the state of bilateral relationships, but institutional connections do remain continuously active.[21][22]
In the 2000s and early 2010s, the Chinese Coast Guard (Before 2013, the Maritime Police and China Marine Surveillance) conducted periodic joint-training sessions with other navies in the North Pacific, including the US Coast Guard service.[23] The Chinese Coast Guard has also participated in the annual North Pacific Coast Guard Agencies Forum in Alaska, along with the US, Canadian, Japanese, South Korean, and Russian Coast Guards. As part of an exchange program, around 109 members of the Chinese Coast Guard service have served on U.S. Coast Guard cutters.[24][25]
Badge of China Coast Guard before 2013, when part of the PAP Border Security Force under the Ministry of Public Security.
The worsening of US-China relationships in the last few years (as of 2024), in particular the ongoing conflict regarding the South China Sea (in which the CCG is directly involved) have all but ended the co-training missions with the USCG, although the purely civilian CMSA still keeps a very close working relationship with its counterparts in the US and Japan.[citation needed]
Territorial sovereignty and rights protection
As China's claims of sovereign waters are extensive and overlap with several other countries, enforcing this doctrine has created a very large number of incidents and controversies involving the CCG.[26][13] These often escalate to skirmishes and tense brinkmanship in what has been called grey-zone operations.[27] The CCG is at the forefront of these incidents (often alongside the People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia).[28] The probable reason for that usage, according to international analysts[29][30] is that putting the paramilitary "White Hulls" (the CCG) and the "Blue Hulls" (the PAFMM) at the forefront avoids the dangerous escalation that would happen if the unambiguously military "Gray Hulls" (the PLAN) were involved in an incident.[31][32]
The CCG is very active in patrolling those rights.[33] The result is a significant number of incidents of varying levels of tension.[26] In 2019, the United States issued a warning to China over aggressive and unsafe action by their Coast Guard and maritime militia.[34] In 2023, the Coast Guard used water cannons on Philippines military ships in contested waters.[35] In 2024, the PAFMM and CCG entered into a tense standoff with the Philippines over the Second Thomas Shoal.[13][36]
Organization
Following the 2018 reforms, the CCG hierarchy - from senior to junior - are the CCG Bureau in Beijing, the regional branch bureaus (Chinese:海区分局; pinyin:haiqu fenju), the provincial-level bureaus (Chinese:省级海警局; pinyin:shengji haijing ju), the municipal-level bureaus (Chinese:市级海警局; pinyin:shiji haijing ju) and work stations (Chinese:工作站; pinyin:gongzuo zhan).[5]
The regional bureaus are the North Sea, East Sea, and South Sea Bureaus.[37]
The provincial and municipal bureaus conduct coastal missions. These are 11 such bureaus (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Heibei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhejiang),[5] one for each coastal region.[37]
The regional bureaus also control "directly subordinate bureaus" (Chinese:直属局; pinyin:zhishi ju) which control most of the large cutters and execute most sovereignty enforcement missions. These bureaus and their locations are:[5]
Chinese coast guard personnel are most commonly seen with QBZ-95 rifles.[38]
Vessels
China Coast Guard Shucha II-class Cutter Haijing 3306.
Chinese Coast Guard ships are painted white with a blue stripe and the words "China Coast Guard" in English and Chinese. CCG ships have hull numbers in the format "Haijing-XX", where XX is a number (up to five figures). Due to the amalgamation of so many forces to form the CCG, the number of ship types and their denomination is very varied and very confusing, with ships often still being referred to with their old "Haijian" (for Marine Surveillance), "Haiguan" (for Customs) or "Yuzheng" (for FLEC) numbers, or referred with their numbers prior to the (ongoing) renumbering.[39]
Before the unification of the CCG, the typical Border Guard Maritime Police boats included the 130 ton Type 218 patrol boat (100 boats), armed with twin 14.5mm machine guns, assorted speedboats, and few larger patrol ships. The largest ship in Chinese Border Patrol Maritime Police service was the 1,500 ton Type 718 cutter (31101 Pudong).[citation needed]
In March 2007, it was reported that the PLAN had transferred two repurposed Type 053 Frigates (renamed Type 728 cutter after the remodeling) (44102, ex-509 Changde; 46103, ex-510 Shaoxing) to the Coast Guard and re-numbered them as Haijing 1002 & Haijing 1003. At the time these ships were the largest vessels in the China Coast Guard inventory. Three more Type 053s were transferred in 2015 (31239, 31240, 31241).[40]
In May 2017, it was reported that China had deployed the 12,000 ton Zhaotou-class patrol cutter China Coast Guard Nansha(3901) (cutter No. 1123 in USI numbers), later renumbered 5901, to patrol its claimed islands in the disputed South China Sea.[41][42] The Nansha is the world's biggest coast guard cutter, and is larger than the U.S. Navy's 9,800 ton Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers or the 8,300-9,300 ton Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.[a][43] The cutter is armed with 76mm H/PJ-26 rapid fire naval guns, two auxiliary guns, and two anti-aircraft guns. A second unit, 2901 was deployed in 2020.[44]
Between mid 2021 and January 2023, the Coast Guard received 22 coastal defense Type 056 corvettes transferred from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.[45]
A 2019 estimate of the total number of hulls that can be deployed by the CCG counted 140 regional and oceangoing patrol vessels (more than 1,000 tons displacement), 120 regional offshore patrol boats (500 to 999 tons), 450 coastal and riverine patrol craft (100 to 499 tons), and 600 inshore patrol boats/minor craft (<100tons).[46][47][39]
Aircraft
The Chinese Coast Guard has used modified versions of the Xi'an MA60 airliner known as the MA60H as marine patrol aircraft.[48] The Harbin Z-9 has also been used by the Chinese Coast Guard.[citation needed]
The CCG has dozens of bases and facilities up and down the coast of China, some very small, their variegated nature again the result of the Coast Guard's mixed origin. The following are some of the largest and most significant.[39]
China Maritime Safety Administration takes on the navigation safety and control duties, including harbormaster powers in most ports. It was not merged with the new coast guard in 2013.
China Marine Surveillance Defunct in July 2013. The present China Coast Guard is a unified force that conducts law-enforcement operations in waters administered by China.
↑ Although the Zhaotou are not equipped with the electronics or armament to make them even vaguely comparable warships. The Zhaotou are armed for constabulary work, would not survive frontline use in war. Their large displacement mostly provides endurance and internal space
↑ "公安边防简介"[About Us - Ministry of Public Security Border Control Department]. The Border Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security. 2008-04-29. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09.
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