The equipment is not in use by the Chinese coast guard, but a statement on its WeChat account on Thursday said the equipment was based on the “mission requirements of the coast guard” and represented an independent innovation in the field of cutting-edge technology, especially in the field of unmanned equipment.
The statement did not provide details about the mother ship, but such ships are typically large and are used to support and maintain other ships, aircraft or operational units, similar to an aircraft carrier in the Navy.
09:23
History, money and military: Why the South China Sea is so important to Beijing
History, money and military: Why the South China Sea is so important to Beijing
The demonstration of large ships and unmanned equipment comes against a backdrop of increasing tensions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
02:34
First incident between Chinese and Filipino ships under Beijing’s new coast guard law
First incident between Chinese and Filipino ships under Beijing’s new coast guard law
Hu Bo, director of the Beijing-based think tank South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, said the new large ships showed that the coast guard “needs ships that are better adapted to its needs.”
“The industrial sector will certainly make certain modifications and designs based on warships according to the requirements of the Chinese Coast Guard,” Hu added.
Last month, Beijing stressed the importance of “protecting maritime rights and interests” at the Communist Party’s third plenum, a bi-decade meeting of party elites that sets the country’s economic direction.
In recent years, China’s coast guard has grown into one of the world’s largest and best-armed forces of its kind, with more than 150 regional and ocean-going patrol vessels with a total tonnage of over 1,000 tons, according to a Pentagon report citing open-source information last year.
As part of this expansion, the company also received a number of decommissioned warships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
