China dispatches patrol boat amid tensions

Haixun 31, one of China's largest patrol ships, starts a two-week voyage to Singapore from the port in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, Wednesday. China Daily-Asia News Network

BEIJING—China has dispatched one of its largest maritime patrol ships on a first-ever visit to the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore amid a spike in tensions over disputed territory in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The Haixun-31 left Wednesday and will stay in Singapore for two weeks of exchanges on search and rescue, anti-piracy and port management operations, Chinese state media reported Thursday.

Similar ships have been accused of harassing foreign shipping in the West Palawan Sea, including US Navy surveillance vessels.

The Philippines, China and Vietnam have traded diplomatic barbs recently over claims to the resource-rich West Philippine Sea and its island groups. Vietnam’s navy conducted live-firing exercises Monday after accusing Chinese boats of disrupting oil and gas exploration in its waters.

The 3,000-ton, helicopter-equipped Haixun-31 is one of two vessels of that size belonging to the Maritime Safety Administration, one of five nominally civilian agencies tasked with overseeing China’s interests at sea. All of those departments are undergoing major expansions as Beijing moves to assert its territorial claims and economic interests in both the West Philippine Sea and the East China Sea, where it has territorial disputes with Japan and Taiwan.

In coming years, three dozen vessels will be added to the fleet, an unnamed official with the State Oceanic Administration, another of the five agencies, announced last year. Defense experts say the People’s Liberation Army Navy, which is also undergoing a thorough upgrade, has been gradually strengthening its command over the maritime patrol agencies, boosting their armaments and improving coordination.