The mainland's coast guard ships are not only world-renowned in terms of technical level and tonnage, but are also crucial to the task of safeguarding maritime rights and interests and defending sovereignty. The value of these large ships is far more than limited to the size of their attack power, due to their huge tonnage, and in some cases, they are able to overwhelm everything by virtue of their tonnage advantage. Recently, we have noticed that the mainland has dispatched 5901 coast guard patrol vessels with a displacement of up to 12,000 tons to patrol the waters of Nanbei Kang Shoal in the Nansha Islands, an action that seems to be related to the Philippines. Not long ago, the Philippines sent its largest coast guard vessel, with a displacement of about 2,600 tons, to the Spratlys, claiming that this was to protect its rights. However, the Philippines may not realize that they are clearly at a disadvantage in tonnage compared to China. The mainland has three 10,000-ton coast guard ships, and when the 5901 arrived in Nansha, it immediately attracted the attention of Southeast Asia, and the Malaysian Navy sent its own warships to conduct reconnaissance and interception activities. Interestingly, the Malaysian warship was purchased precisely from China. The warship began construction in 2018 by the Wushuan Group of China Shipbuilding Industry Group and was first launched in April 2019. Although the warship has a displacement of only about 700 tons, it has excellent maritime patrol performance. However, in the face of the mainland's 12,000-ton coast guard ships, Malaysian warships can hardly match, and there is no doubt that the mainland has a complete advantage in tonnage.
One might argue that while Malaysia has a small tonnage, it should have an advantage in terms of attack capabilities. But in fact, on the contrary, only a 30-mm cannon was installed on ships of this class, and there were no other means of attack. In contrast, the mainland's 12,000-ton coast guard ships are armed not only with multiple 30mm machine guns, but also with 12.7mm machine guns, as well as a 76mm gun, the same main gun used on the Type 054A destroyer. The main gun is capable of firing two shells per minute at a limiting rate of fire, and its overall fire output is equivalent to that of an artillery battery. In the face of this attack capability, Malaysia's 700-ton small ships are clearly at an absolute disadvantage and cannot compete with the mainland's coast guard ships, and they can only conduct symbolic reconnaissance and tracking.
However, this incident seems to remind us that in the future, when selling warships to other countries, we need to consider whether these countries are likely to conflict with us in certain areas, or whether it is necessary to add some "exclusive safety devices" to these sold equipment suitable for the situation on the mainland. Do you agree with this view?