UNABATED: As US military movements halt, China continues operations and exercises

Despite the global spread of COVID-19 that has brought much of the US military's movements to a halt, China continues to push forward with its own operations and exercises. Highlighting China’s ongoing operations in the Indo-Pacific was an incident on April 1 when a Chinese coast guard ship reportedly rammed into a Vietnamese fishing boat in disputed waters, sinking the vessel before detaining the eight-member crew and two other boats that came to their aid. The incident occurred near the Paracels Islands, an archipelago south of China and east of Vietnam that both countries lay claim to. Beijing stated that the Vietnamese vessel hit the Chinese ship and that it later released the detainees.

Elsewhere in the region, Chinese fishing vessels continue to enter other disputed waters. Some experts claim that Beijing uses fishing vessels as a maritime force to assert its controversial territorial claims in the East and South China seas. Late last month, a Chinese fishing vessel collided with a Japanese destroyer 400 miles west of Yakushima, an island just north of Okinawa. The collision created a hole in the side of the Japanese destroyer that left it damaged but still able to move. Meanwhile near Indonesia, vessels backed by the Chinese coast guard have angered residents by entering fishing grounds near the Natuna Islands. Locals say the Chinese fishermen have depleted their catch and destroyed sea life.

As for its military, Beijing pushed forward with a number of exercises around the region in March. Near Taiwan, it performed aerial exercises involving reconnaissance, early-warning detection, surveillance, and staged confrontations between fighter jets. In Cambodia, it conducted joint anti-terrorism training. And near its shores, the Chinese navy carried out combat exercises to strengthen its ability to control the seas. The Chinese military’s online English news site noted that the naval exercises occurred during an increased presence of US aircraft and ships in the region. A Chinese military expert said he expected to see even more US aircraft to compensate for the impact on naval capabilities caused by the recent COVID-19 outbreak onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.

All of this has come as the US puts a halt to most of its military movements in response to the coronavirus pandemic, even as American lawmakers and military officials seek ways to respond to China. A report by DefenseNews last week examined a $20 billion funding request from the Indo-Pacom command to develop the systems, weapons, and equipment needed to challenge China. In an example of Washington’s pivot to the region, a Chinese think tank reported that in 2019 the US increased the number of operations and exercises it conducts in the region.

Moving forward, China will continue to assert power and control over the region to push back against US influence. In the same vein, the US promises to do the same. How COVID-19 affects this competition will continue to be seen.