Quad to launch real-time tracing of Chinese vessels in Indo-Pacific

Real-time monitoring by Quad, the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Security Framework, on maritime activities in Chinese sea, which was determined at the U.S.-Japan summit on Tuesday is seen as a move to counter-balance China’s rising dominance of the seas. The U.S. aims to build a siege near seas of China including the Taiwan Strait, Senkaku Islands (Diaoyudao) of the East China Sea, and South China Sea in dispute between China and Southeast Asian countries, and the Pacific. Quad will be putting a stop to China’s activities of dispatching civil maritime organizations in areas of territorial dispute. Experts expect that the move will raise military tensions between the U.S. and China.

Quad has also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the 5G mobile telecom equipment market, led by Huawei, to exclude China. In addition to launching the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the U.S. has leveraged Quad to build a counter-balance framework in trade, technology, and marine security. China has taken measures to dispatch the highest level missions to Solomon Islands in the Southern Pacific, an emerging point of dispute between the U.S. and China.

The satellite-based real-time marine tracing system is endorsed by the heads of state at Quad to trace activities of illegal fishing by Chinese vessels that turn off automatic identification systems as well as civil marine organizations supporting Chinese marine activities.

The Biden administration has announced use of base stations installed in Singapore of the South China Sea, India in the Indian Ocean, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in South Pacific, to build the satellite-based marine tracing system. This will allow real-time tracking and monitoring of Chinese civil marine organizations and the movement of Chinese warships.


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