March 22:
An Indonesian patrol caught a Chinese fishing vessel trawling within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) derived from its Natuna islands in the South China Sea. Officers detained the crew and began towing the boat, but as it neared the islands at least one Chinese coast guard vessel rammed the Chinese boat to try and free it. Hours after the incident a “top Chinese diplomat” called Jakarta and asked them not to tell the media,Bloomberg reports. Instead, Indonesian officials called a press conference and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called the incident a violation of the “sovereignty of Indonesia’s territorial waters.” In response, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the incident occurred in “traditional Chinese fishing grounds” and that an armed Indonesian vessel “attacked and harassed” the Chinese boat. “The Natuna Islands belong to Indonesia. China has no objection. But Indonesia’s EEZ is overlapping part of the nine dash line, which makes fishery disputes in the area inevitable,” the official Global Times reports.
March 25:
About 100 China-registered vessels were detected in Malaysia's waters near Beting Patinggi Ali in the South China Sea on March 24, said a Minister in the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department, Shahidan Kassim. Shahidan said the government instructed the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to monitor the situation, The Straits Times reports. "Three MMEA vessels have been deployed to the area. The Royal Malaysian Navy assets are also there. The Bombardier aircraft has also carried out aerial monitoring in that area and found a group of Chinese fishermen there. Our vessels are expected to arrive there tonight," Shahidan said. “Appropriate law enforcement action would be taken if the [Chinese] boats and ships were found to have entered Malaysia's exclusive economic zone.”
March 27:
Two of South Africa's best fighter pilots, Gys van der Walt and S.G. Ferreira, are in China training pilots from the People’s Liberation Army air force. The PLA recruited the two retired pilots because of their knowledge and experience on the weapons and missile systems of Swedish-built Gripen fighter. They will provide training on the Chinese FTC-2000 or "Mountain Eagle" (Shanying) – a new Chinese aircraft that strongly resembles the Gripen. “The pilots’ decision to train the Chinese how to fly caused considerable consternation in the local air force community because they also take with them first-hand knowledge of the South African management systems, particulars and specifications of the airplanes,” South Africa’s Network 24 reports. There are no restrictions on who South African air force pilots can train after they retire. The Guizhou Aircraft Industries Corp. announced at the Paris Air Show that it will supply an “African country,” probably Zambia, with the FTC-2000.
March 30:
Hong Kong’s Hsin Pao reports that "PLA Navy Lieutenant Colonel Liu Zhiyuan has been transferred from Beijing to the Fiery Cross Reef [Yongshu Reef] in the Spratly Islands." An unnamed observer asserted that Liu's transfer has "indirectly confirmed" that the Fiery Cross Reef is now guarded by "regiment-level" PLA garrison forces instead of "company-level" forces. Liu will be "in charge of political work of the garrison forces at the Fiery Cross Reef." There are rumors that China will establish a "county-level administrative region at the Spratly Islands."
March 31:
China has proposed the world's largest infrastructure project: a $50 trillion global electricity network to be operational by 2050. According to State Grid Corp. chairman Liu Zhenya, the plan envisions linking existing and future solar farms, wind turbines and electricity plants in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Liu said the planet faces "three major challenges": energy scarcity, environmental pollution, and climate change, and "global energy interconnection" is the answer to these threats, NBC reports. The plan, which would require huge investment from around the world, envisions efficient transmission lines to distribute electricity from giant solar farms around the equator and wind stations in the Arctic. Liu estimated that the global network could mean clean energy would comprise 80 percent of global consumption. Energy transmission technology "has matured and clean energy is becoming more economical, so the conditions for building global power interconnection already exist," Liu said.