China blocks South Korean survey ship near West Sea structures in second standoff this year: Report

Seoul, Oct 28 (IANS) Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked a South Korean ship last month in an overlapping sea zone of the Yellow Sea while it was inspecting Chinese-built structures, causing a standoff, a US think tank revealed on Tuesday.

The incident was revealed in a report titled 'Korea-China Standoff in the Provisional Measure Zone (PMZ),' published by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Yonhap News Agency reported.

Citing data from maritime analytics firm Starboard Maritime Intelligence, CSIS said the South Korean research vessel Onnuri entered the Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ), an overlapping sea zone between the two countries, in the Yellow Sea on September 24 to inspect steel structures installed by China.

About six hours later, a Chinese coast guard vessel approached the Onnuri, followed by two additional ships from a port in Qingdao. In response, a South Korean coast guard vessel moved to the area to provide support.

The following day, the Onnuri and the South Korean coast guard ship approached two Chinese aquaculture structures, identified as Shenlan No. 1 and Shenlan No. 2, within the PMZ. When the Onnuri attempted to inspect the facilities, two Chinese coast guard ships surrounded it on both sides.

Then for about 15 hours, the Chinese ships trailed the Korean vessels leaving the areas only to stop short whey exited the PMZ.

It marked the second such standoff in seven months, following a similar incident in February.

The CSIS said the latest incident shows that China continues to demonstrate "a pattern of asserting its presence and maintaining surveillance activities" around maritime structures it has unilaterally installed in disputed waters.

The think tank said Beijing's attempts to restrict South Korean ships' movement within the PMZ clearly violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which guarantees freedom of navigation for all foreign vessels within exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

Although South Korea maintains that the Onnuri's inspection was legitimate, China claimed the facilities were aquaculture farms and demanded the Korean vessel leave the area.

Speaking to a parliamentary audit session on Tuesday, South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said, "The United States is taking this matter seriously," when a lawmaker pointed out that the location of the standoff is close to the US military base in Pyeongtaek, 74 kilometres southwest of Seoul.

"The government will review how to cooperate with Washington on the issue, depending on further developments in the area," he said.

--IANS

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