Thayer Consultancy Background Brief:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Coast Guard Law of the People’s
Republic of China
Carlyle A. Thayer
January 31, 2021

We are preparing a report on China's Coast Guard (CCG) under a new law passed by
the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. The law is described here:
https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/philippines-protests-chinas-new-coast-guard-law-
as-verbal-threat-of-war/
We request your analysis of how this law will impact on CCG operations in the South
China Sea. Our concerns are spelled out in the four questions below:
Q1. What elements of the law might be a detriment to maritime users and claimants’
maritime activity?
ANSWER: Because the area of coverage is ambiguous and not clearly demarcated, the
Coast Guard Law of the People’s Republic of China is a form of lawfare designed to
serve as a deterrent to other littoral states in the East and South China Seas. This is
because it authorises the use of force against foreign vessels.
Article 22, for example, authorizes the China Coast Guard (CCG) to “take all necessary
measures including the use of weapons to stop infringements and eliminate dangers”
in response to the infringement on China’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and sovereign
jurisdiction. CCG vessels are much larger and more heavily armed with deck guns than
their regional counterparts in Southeast Asia. Also, the wording of the Law could
authorize China to use armed helicopters embarked on CCG vessels.
Article 47 authorizes CCG personnel to use side arms when foreign vessels resist
orders from the CCG. In other words, fishing craft of littoral states could be included
under this article.
Finally, Article 20 authorizes the CCG to prevent foreign countries from “constructing
buildings, structures, and setting up all kinds of fixed or floating installations” including
demolishing these structures.
Q2. Will the law carry any weight with respect to China’s nine-dash line claims?
ANSWER: The Law will carry weight from the perspective of the China Coast Guard but
it will be rejected by the littoral states. Since 2016, China has downplayed the
importance of its nine-dash line in favour of its ambit claim to four shas – Paracels,
Spratlys, Pratas and Macclesfield Bank. Collectively, China refers to the four shas as
Nanhai Zhudao (South China Sea Islands).
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These four shas are formed by drawing straight baselines around them and claiming
all waters inside the base line as Chinese territorial waters. China then advances claims
to maritime zones from these external baselines. China’s legal claims have been
rejected by submissions to the Commission on the Limits to the Continental Shelf,
particularly by the United States and Australia.
Q3. What does China mean in the law by “waters under Chinese jurisdiction” and
“unlawful activities”?
ANSWER: “Waters under Chinese jurisdiction” include the internal waters enclosed by
straight bases lines around each of the four shas and maritime zones to the seaward
from these baselines – seemingly 12 nm territorial sea and 200 nm exclusive economic
zone. “Unlawful activities” means whatever China says it means – such as fishing,
exploitation of marine resources, including hydrocarbons (oil and gas).
Q4. Implications for the Code of Conduct (COC) negotiations — any change here?
ANSWER: China’s Law on Coast Guard only complicates COC negotiations because
China is asserting sovereignty and sovereign jurisdiction over land features that are
already occupied by the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. If China got its way, there
would be nothing to negotiate because all the waters and land features would be ipso
facto Chinese from Beijing’s perspective.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Coast Guard Law of the People’s Republic of
China,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, January 31, 2021. All background briefs
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.