Chinese research ships, US military active in north Pacific, monitor shows

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Five Chinese research vessels, including ships used for space and missile tracking and underwater mapping, were active in the northwest Pacific last month, as the United States stepped up military exercises, data compiled by a Guam-based group shows.

Rapid militarisation in the northern Pacific gets insufficient attention, says the Pacific Center for Island Security, adding that it makes island populations a potential target in any great-power conflict.

"If you look at the number of U.S. and bilateral and multilateral exercises, there is a lot of activity," Leland Bettis, the director of the group that seeks to flag regional security risks, said in an interview.

"Is the fact that the Chinese are sending research vessels into this area to map what is effectively undersea battle space surprising? Probably not."

The centre's Micronesia Security Monitor, launched on Thursday, shows three Chinese research vessels, including the space and missile tracking ship Yuanwang 7, near the tiny Pacific island of Kiribati over the last month.

A Pacific Ocean neighbour of Hawaii with close ties to Beijing, Kiribati has a vast exclusive economic zone spanning 3.6 million sq km (1.4 million sq miles).

Last year it expressed concern at China's test of an intercontinental missile that landed near its waters.

Two more Chinese research vessels travelled east of the U.S. territory of Guam, near island states with U.S. defence compacts, the Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands, the monitor showed.

China's foreign ministry said China conducts marine scientific research in accordance with international laws and its research vessels obtain prior consent for activities in waters under the jurisdiction of other countries.

"The marine scientific research activities conducted by China are for peaceful purposes and aim to deepen understanding of the ocean and contribute to the well-being of all humanity," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said. "If any major country were to attempt to militarize the North Pacific, it would not be China."

Kiribati did not respond to a request for comment.

Between August and November, the United States has held nine multilateral war drills near Guam with allies, the monitor showed.

Exercise Malabar, which saw Australia, India, Japan and the United States drill anti-submarine warfare and air defences, concluded on Thursday with Australia's defence force saying the exercise was important to "deter coercion in the Indo-Pacific".

The United States has military bases in Guam and Marshall Islands, and overflight rights and maritime access to three freely associated states, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.

"Thirty years ago the U.S. presence in these places would have been a deterrent, today that makes us a target, as a result of modern technology," Bettis, who lives in Guam, said shortly before Thursday's launch.

The monitor's visuals also show the spread of the U.S. military footprint across Micronesia, including upgraded wharves and airfields.

The project is funded by commercial donors, the Carnegie Corporation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Tom Hogue)