March 24, 2024
National security leaders worry about U.S. failure to ratify Law of the Sea treaty
Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said being outside the treaty undercuts American credibility while China is laser-focused on building its maritime power. Shugart said China's deep sea miners have a second mission: collecting information for the Chinese military.
"If you're going to find submarines in the ocean, you need to know what the bottom looks like. You need to know what the temperature is. You need to know what the salinity is," Shugart said. "If China is using civilian vessels to sort of on the sly do those surveys, then that could improve their ability to find U.S. and allied submarines over time as they better understand that undersea environment."
Shugart also said China is flexing its maritime muscle by claiming the South China Sea as its private ocean.
The country has challenged the treaty's navigation laws that ensure safe passage by harassing passing ships, including the U.S. Navy. China has fired water cannons at its neighbors, caused collisions and even flashed a military-grade laser at ships.
Watch the full interview from CBS 60 Minutes.
More from CNAS
-
Countering the Swarm
Reports
After decades of air dominance and a near monopoly on precision strike, the United States now faces a dramatically different, more hostile world as the proliferation of cheap ...
By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
-
Commentary
Defense / Transatlantic Security
Europe’s Delusions Over What It Means to Deter RussiaToday’s European leaders are in a Singapore trap, crafting a training mission designed to signal resolve rather than achieve an actual military objective....
By Franz-Stefan Gady
-
How Are Drones Changing the Landscape of Modern Warfare?
Podcast
As an increasing number of countries have begun to manufacture and export their own array of military drones, many are concerned about how drone technology is presenting a big...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Commentary
Defense / Technology & National Security
The Dawn of Automated WarfareDrone-on-drone battle is now a central part of the war....
By Greg Grant & Eric Schmidt
