Executive Summary
Since completing the construction of its artificial island outposts in the Spratly Islands in 2016, China has shifted its focus toward asserting control over peacetime activity across the South China Sea. A key component of this shift has been the expansion of China’s maritime militia—a force of vessels ostensibly engaged in commercial fishing but which in fact operate alongside Chinese law enforcement and military to achieve Chinese political objectives in disputed waters. The tactics employed by the militia pose a significant challenge to those interested in maintaining a maritime order rooted in international law. But open-source Chinese language research, remote
sensing data, and maritime patrols conducted by actors operating in disputed waters have the power to expose the militia and diminish its effectiveness as a gray zone force.
This report presents the most comprehensive profile yet available of China’s maritime militia in the South China Sea. Additionally, this report presents a methodology for identifying Chinese maritime militia vessels and a list of 122 militia vessels thus identified, as well as a list of 52 more ships highly likely to be militia.
More infomation: Pulling Back the Curtain on China’s Maritime MilitiaPulling_Back_the_Curtain_on_Chinas_Marit
