Patrol ship Haijian 26 lies at anchor at Tuandao Port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, April 22, 2011. Photos: CFP

Editor's Note

China governs a maritime territory of some 3 million square kilometers, and just 13 percent know China's coastline is 18,000 kilometers long. Over 60 percent of the surveyed want China to strengthen its sea power and some 63.5 percent opposed the idea that "it is not worth fighting for China's rights on small remote islands", according to a recent survey conducted by the publishing house China Ocean Press.

Marine Resources

Marine resources are richful and they play very important roles in our lives. Here are some species of marine resources.
 

Marine organisms are used for food, medicine and so on.	Marine energies such as coals, gas and oil are used for industrial production, people's living and so on.	Marine minerals are used for construction, maintaining and constructing roads and so on.

Marine Exploration

	Deep ambitions China has been speeding up construction of deep-sea oil drilling platforms and expects to be capable of reaching more energy resources lying under the South China Sea as soon as this fall. "Deep-sea oil drilling devices are our moving territory and are essential for realizing our offshore oil exploitation strategy," Wang Yilin, chairman of CNOOC, said at the platform's naming ceremony on May 23.
	China's first under-sea tunnel links up in Xiamen The first stage of the Xiang’an Tunnel in Xiamen, the first under-sea tunnel project on the Chinese mainland, broke through at 3:58 pm Saturday. China completes second undersea tunnel Major digging finished Wednesday on an undersea tunnel linking the east and west parts of Qingdao, a coastal city of east China’s Shandong Province, said local authorities.
	World's busiest ports lack talents "Shanghai ports are becoming more important because Hong Kong is mostly an inward and outward transshipment port, and thus, there are a growing number of lawsuits involving both domestic and overseas companies in Shanghai," Liu Guiming, managing partner and attorney at GL & CO. Law Firm, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
	Clean energy to garner foreign investment, technology China has recoverable wind energy sources of 160 million kilowatts, geothermal sources of 3.5 million kilowatts and tidal energy sources of more than 20 million kilowatts, according to the China Energy Research Society.
	Chinese sub to delve 5,000 meters under Pacific Ocean China's Jiaolong submarine, designed to be the world's deepest-diving submersible, set off Friday on a journey that will see it delve down 5,000 meters into the Pacific Ocean, topping its successful 3,759-meter dive last year.

Maritime Spats

Disputed Area	Involved Countries	Related Reports
South China Sea	China, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines	Countries including Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines lay claim to parts of the South China Sea, which contains important shipping routes and is also believed to contain rich oil and gas reserves. The issues in the South China Sea are not only a conflict over the islands, but also includes resources of oil and natural gas, underwater archaeology, hydrogeothermal and fishery.
Diaoyu Islands	China and Japan	Diaoyu Islands can never be up for sale Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, remarked that the Tokyo government would purchase Diaoyu Islands from private hands. The intention is clear, namely to leave Japan's mark over the islands through business deals. But the trick will only sway a few Japanese people.
Yellow Sea	China and South Korea	Chinese army conducts drill in Yellow Sea The People's Liberation Army (PLA) held a military supply drill in the Yellow Sea over the weekend, amid reports of tensions over a scheduled joint exercise between the US and South Korean navies.

Safeguard Our Maritime Rights

China's 2010 Ocean Development Report released last May said the country's maritime rights and interests face a complicated situation and safety threats, including terrorism, disputes over maritime resources and sovereignty, and sea delimitation.

China will further intensify regular patrols of its sea territory to protect the country's maritime interests and rights, a senior maritime patrol official said Monday. "The patrols are part of our long-term, important responsibility," said Wu Ping, deputy head of China Marine Surveillance (CMS), a government agency in charge of maritime law enforcement.

Some disputes, such as those in the South China Sea, put great pressure on us to safeguard maritime rights and territorial integrity.----Wen Bing (Wen), researchers in the military theory and strategic research division of the Academy of Military Sciences

Currently, besides the Chinese navy, many other authorities also have the responsibilities for enforcing maritime law and safeguarding our rights, such as the Border Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security, the National Bureau of Oceanography under the Ministry of Land and Resource, and border police stations at various levels and so on. If China integrated these forces, it could act more flexibly when maritime incidents occur. China needs a national coast guard to back up the Chinese navy, just like Japan, the US and Russia have.------Luo Yuan (Luo), a CPPCC member and major general of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences

Marine Pollution

Time: April 20, 2010 Location: the Gulf of Mexico Operator: British oil giant BP On April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, owned by Transocean and leased by British oil giant BP, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers.

Time: June 17, 2011 Location: Penglai 19-3 oilfield, platforms C, Shandong Province Operator: US firm ConocoPhilips This is the second oil spill in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in north China's Bohai Bay Time: July 12, 2011 Location: Penglai 19-3 oilfield, platforms B and C, Shandong Province Operator: US firm ConocoPhilips A small oil leak was seen in the Suizhong 36-1 oilfield in northern China's Liaoning Province. Time: June 4, 2011 Location: Penglai 19-3 oilfield, platforms B and C, Shandong Province Operator: US firm ConocoPhilips The leak from platforms B and C of the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in the Bohai Bay, which started on June 4 and June 17 respectively, polluted 840 square kilometres of water. source: china.org.cn