China Is Winning the Silent War
to Dominate the South China Sea
Philip J. Heijmans, Hannah Dormido and Adrian Leung
July 11, 2019
Caught in the Middle
Hometown of
fisherman
Tran Van Nhan
and his crew
Filipino fishermen
say they are scared
to go back to this spot
because of run-ins
with Chinese vessels
PHILIPPINES
Paracel
Islands
Zambales
Tam Quang
Scarborough
Shoal
South China
Sea
The Vietnamese crew
say this is where the
Chinese vessel stole
their catch
Filipino fishermen
Job Dalisaymo
and Jorge Limuardo’s
hometown
VIETNAM
Spratlys
200 mi
200 km
“They said ‘This is China’s water. You are not allowed to go fishing here. If you continue to do this, your net will be cut and your boat will be taken to China and you will be punished,’” Nhan, 43, said while sitting on his trawler as it docked in Tam Quang, a small fishing commune in the central Vietnam province of Quang Nam.
Nhan’s crew lost everything it had worked for days to catch—just over two tons of dried squid valued at some $10,000, roughly four times the average Vietnamese annual income. There was nothing to do but return home. “The crew was terrified and didn’t have any spirit left to continue fishing,” he said.
Fishermen like Nhan are on the front lines of Asia’s most complex territorial dispute, which involves six claimants and outside powers like the U.S. with an interest in protecting a waterway that carries more than $3 trillion in trade each year. While many incidents go unreported, China’s investments in patrolling the South China Sea have given it a leg up in the race to secure energy and fishing resources that account for about a tenth of the global catch.
Maritime Minefield
CHINA
TAIWAN
LAOS
South China
Sea
Philippine
Sea
Bay of
Bengal
THAILAND
VIETNAM
CAMBODIA
PHILIPPINES
MALAYSIA
INDONESIA
500 mi
500 km
“You can call it a silent war,” said Le Hong Hiep, a fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. The Chinese “are contesting waters. There is violence. It happens all the time.”
While China appears to be the biggest offender due to its size and resources, it’s not alone in seeking to protect fishing grounds as stocks get depleted and rules remain lax. Other claimants such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam have taken action against fishing crews from China and other nations, sometimes even making a show of destroying vessels that were impounded.
“Not only China, but also generally there is a growing recognition by regional governments of the pertinent need to scale up efforts to safeguard their maritime rights and interests, not least fisheries,” said Collin Koh Swee Lean, research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Several high-profile incidents in recent months have spotlighted the increased dangers of fishing in the South China Sea. In March, Vietnam accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of sinking a fishing boat near the Paracel Islands. Then last month a Chinese vessel collided with a Philippine trawler near the islands further to the south, leaving 22 Filipino fishermen stranded at sea.
