Chinese undersea device found near Bali: Report

Jakarta, April 19 (IANS) A Chinese undersea monitoring system was found near an island in a strategically important strait between Indonesia's Lombok and Bali last week, media reports said.  

The 3.7 metre-long device was found by fishermen north of Gili Trawangan island in the Lombok Strait and taken by the Indonesian navy to the Mataram naval base on Lombok for further investigation, according to Australia's ABC news.

Indonesian Navy spokesperson Rear Admiral Tunggul said that a thorough examination of the device will be conducted by the navy to identify the device, including its purpose, stored data, and its origin.

Defence analyst H.I. Sutton identified the device as a Deep-Sea Real-Time Transmission Mooring System developed by the Chinese 710 Research Institute.

According to Sutton, the institute focuses on underwater attack and defence.

He added that the device monitors things like current, depth, temperature and "sound and target information".

The report highlighted that "the 710 Research Institute was part of the Chinese state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), now merged into the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC)".

The device has the letters CSIC and the logo of the corporation.

The system is designed to send data home via a communication buoy deployed to the surface while the device itself is moored to an anchor on the sea floor.

While contending that they could have military use, Sutton said that "it is likely concerning to Indonesian authorities that a Chinese sensor buoy has been found in the area".

A spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "it did not have specific details on the matter", but mentioned that "China had always conducted marine scientific research activities and used related equipment in accordance with international law".

"Based on international practice, it is not unusual for marine research equipment to drift into the territorial waters of other countries due to malfunctions or other reasons," the spokesperson told ABC. "There is no need for excessive interpretation or suspicion."

The system's array of sensors combined with its ability to communicate back home made it "undersea warfare capable", said Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and an expert in maritime security and naval affairs.

He also highlighted that submarines could be detected by the device's acoustic sensor, but the signal would need to be sent for processing to a shore station.

"This is often the problem that we face when it comes to these sorts of dual-use technologies that concern marine scientific research and data collection."

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), the discovery of the device was concerning and suggested a "level of aggressive behaviour" by China in anticipation of military activity in the future.

--IANS

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