China operates one of the world’s largest ocean surveying fleets but survey routes have often lacked transparency and varied from one mission to another. Photo: Xinhua
Beijing has for the first time listed the specific locations to be visited regularly by Chinese ocean research vessels, including disputed areas of the South China Sea and waters close to US Pacific bases.
The 33 areas, or “reference sections”, cover a wide span of regional waterways – from the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea to the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans – according to the announcement from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), a top government research funder.
China operates one of the world’s largest ocean surveying fleets, with more than 60 ships in service in 2017, according to the latest data available from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, which manages the NSFC.
But the survey routes of these ships have often lacked transparency, and varied from one mission to another.
According to Leng Shuying, director of the NSFC’s earth science department: “Uncertainties in survey sections and stations in different years and seasons is not conducive to obtaining samples and information that reflect long-term changes in important ocean processes in key sea areas.”
“Setting fixed sections for ocean research has become an inevitable choice,” Leng wrote in an article published in Chinese-language journal Oceanologia et Limnologia Sinica last week.
Five reference sections are located in the busy Taiwan Strait. Photo: Handout
Most of the periodic surveys would be carried out in China’s offshore waters, including the Taiwan Strait, according to lead author Leng and her colleagues.
The busy, narrow channel between mainland China and Taiwan alone features as many as five reference sections.
The NSFC team said the relatively shallow waters needed long-term observational data, as their fragile ecological system was heavily influenced by human activities.
I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn.
I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC. I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters. I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law.
I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam.
In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship.
Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam.
I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN.
I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism. In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net).
I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries.
In October 2011 Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi published my book "Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống).
In December 2013 Phu Nu Publishing House published my book "10 Core Values for Success".
I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.
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