China Marine Surveillance
China Marine Surveillance (CMS; ) was a maritime surveillance agency of China. Patrol vessels from China Marine Surveillance are commonly deployed to locations in the South China Sea and East China Sea where China has territorial disputes over islands with its neighbors. The CMS has played a central role in China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, encountering opposition from Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in the disputed territories, as China tries to lock up natural resources to meet its demands as the world's largest energy consumer. One senior US naval intelligence officer has suggested  that the mission of China Marine Surveillance is to "harass other nations into submitting to China's expansive claims." The agency has been disbanded in July 2013 and has now been merged, along with three other similar agencies, with the China Coast Guard. Organization and function. Established 1998, the CMS, charged with the supervisory responsibility for some 3 million square kilometers of Chinese declared territorial waters, employs some 7,000 individuals and operates some 10 aircraft, including at least one Mil Mi-8 helicopter and two Harbin Y-12 utility planes, and 400 seagoing vessels.(Two Harbin Y-12 aircraft seen at Guilin airfield on  a number of occasions in August 2013.) It has grown in fleet size and capability. Its fleet is made up of, in part, destroyers and other former Chinese Navy vessels. Disestablishment. In March 2013, China announced it shall create a unified Coast Guard commanded by the State Oceanic Administration. The move has now merged China Marine Surveillance with the China Coast Guard. North China Sea Fleet. The North China Sea Fleet was led by both North China Sea Branch, State Oceanic Administration and China Marine Surveillance. East China Sea Fleet. The East China Sea Fleet was led by both East  China Sea Branch, State Oceanic Administration and China Marine Surveillance. South China Sea Fleet. The South China Sea Fleet is led by both South China Sea Branch, State Oceanic Administration and China Marine Surveillance. Deployments around Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands. According to the State Oceanic Administration, the following operations in the territorial waters around Senkaku Islands have been carried out by CMS, which is now known as China Coast Guard.