Also in January 2003，Beijing‘s Zhongguo Qingnian Bao（China Youth News）reportedthat China‘s Maritime Patrol Service had "effectively responded"72against incursionsinto Chinese "territorial seas"by American and Japanese ships and aircraft andspecifically charged the USNS Bowditch and USNS Sumner with engaging in unauthorizedmilitary mapping activities. On July 1，2003，the headquarters of the General Staff Department of thePeople‘s Liberation Army，together with the State Oceanic Administration （SOA ），issued new regulations protecting uninhabited islands around the base points ofChina‘s territorial waters.This includes all of the disputed islands and reefsin the South China Sea and prohibits activities that might damage these islands.The regulations require all "organizations and individuals"to apply for approvalif they want to use the islands.73The Chinese were swift to begin enforcement ofthe rules. On July 11，Chinese patrol ships seized five Taiwanese fishing boats that wereoperating in the open sea more than 129km from the southeast coast of China.TheChinese accused the Taiwanese boats of infringing on China‘s economic exclusionzone.Although the Taiwanese ships were operating far from China‘s coast，Chinaclaims a 200nautical mile economic exclusion zone，which covers the entire TaiwanStrait.74 There may not be a way to bridge the gap between China‘s demands that Americanmilitary and non-commercial government vessels first gain Chinese authorizationto conduct maritime surveillance in waters within 200nm of Chinese landfall underArticles 246and 248of the UNCLOS and the U.S.demands for "freedom of access"on the high seas.75But given the Chinese government‘s extensive territorial claimsin the South China sea，in the Ryukyu chain，and on Taiwan，China‘s actions promisefriction not only with the U.S.in the coming years ，but also with all other nationsin the Asia-Pacific region with overlapping maritime claims.76 1 |
