Dangerous Tides 2: Maritime Militias in Asia
Jeanne-Mây Desurmont | 06 August 2024
Summary
Maritime militia boats were introduced during the Chinese Civil War to compensate for the PRC’s weak naval capabilities. These have evolved from state-sponsored fishing vessels who patrolled the PRC’s water and interests at sea to armed professional ships for enforcing Chinese sovereignty claims in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
These vessels, which include both civilian fishing boats and purpose-built militia boats, are equipped for harassment, area denial, and anti-access missions. They support the Chinese coast guard and navy, and are used in espionage activities, creating a de facto Chinese presence in disputed areas.
The maritime militia's activities have led to significant diplomatic crises and increased tensions with other nations, particularly the US. Technological improvements in these vessels reduce China's plausible deniability and increase the risk of unintended escalations. The PRC is likely to continue expanding and upgrading its maritime militia, posing greater risks of armed confrontations in the region.
Maritime militia boats are armed civilian vessels particularly used in the People’s Republic of China’s operations in the South and East China seas. Far from new, they were introduced during the Chinese Civil War as the 1949 CCP had weak naval capabilities and had to defend its coasts against Nationalist incursions into PRC waters. Officially called the Peoples’ Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM) by the U.S. Department of Defense, it is composed of purpose-built militia vessels but also normal fishing boats. While most of the militiamen have civilian jobs as fishermen, there is a growing number of trained mariners, equipped and organised by the Peoples’ Liberation Army who are full-time professional military and elite forces. The actual strength of the fishing militia is unknown but a peak of 400 militia vessels deployed in the South China Sea was recorded in July 2022.
What began as coastal patrol and surveillance vessels in the 1950s, evolved into a maritime sovereignty support to the coast guard and the navy. Indeed, militia boats are mainly used by the PRC to enforce Chinese sovereignty claims in the SCS and the ECS, establishing a de facto Chinese presence in disputed areas and changing the balance of power on the ground. Militia boats are also used to regulate the foreign and militiary activities in the Chinese maritime sphere of influence, notably the U.S. Freedom of Navigation operations. To safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests, militia boats are using harassment, area denial and anti-access missions, for example blocking the access to a disputed island in order to control it. Civil vessels are usually unarmed, but they can conduct dangerous maneouvres against other vessels while professional militia boats can have water cannons and small firearms on board, some elite units even carry sea mines and anti-aircraft artillery. Nevertheless, all vessels affiliated with the PAFMM are equiped with advanced communications systems. They are mainly used for communicationat sea, but can also be used in espionage activities, particularly concerning disputed maritime features. Open-source research has revealed a comprehensive set of official documents and statements about CCP-linked programs financing the maritime militia. Then, the trained and equiped fishing vessels are not acting as independent actors but as paid entities compelled to participate in the CCP’s national security efforts.
While these operations are under the threshold of war, confrontations between PRC militia boats and other vessels are creating important diplomatic crises. Such incidents include the battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974, the first time where militia boats were used to deter South Vietnamese forces. Following that, the PAFMM has been observed alongside every PLAN and Chinese Coast Guards operations against counter claimants in the region, ultimately, the PRC gained control of the Paracel islands. Other instances of PAFMM activities include the harrassment of the U.S.N.S Impeccable in 2009, the seizure of the Scaborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012, the blockade of Manila’s outpost on the Second Thomase Shoal in 2014, and the confrontation with Vietnam over a oil drilling platform in 2014.
Unlike the western navies including the U.S., who are globally dispersed, the maritime militia is a well-coordinated means for the PRC to pursue its interests in peacetime. The maritime militia is also a grey zone advantage as it can challenge other vessels without being challenged. However, technological improvements on militia vessels are making them more identifiable as state-sponsored entities which decrease the PRC’s plausible deniability when one of its militia boat harrass or encroach another vessel. This can also increase the risk of unintended escalations with foreign navies.
China is not the only nation using maritime militia albeit the size of its fleet and its activities are unprecedented. Vietnam is the only other country who has officially created its own maritime militia in 2009 to respond to the PAFMM under the cover of law enforcement. Indonesia has also started to train its fishers to participate in a defence programme in 2018, and Indian and Pakistani fishers are now collaborating with their respective country’s intelligence services.
Matthew Lee / Flickr
Forecast
Medium-term
It is very likely that the PRC will continue to fund and deploy a maritime militia with a gradual shift from fishing vessels to purpose-built boats to constitute their third force at sea. With professional and dedicated vessels to defend its sovereignty claims in the SCS and the ECS, it also increases the risks of armed and one-sided confrontations between the PAFMM and other vessels.
Long-term
The technological improvements who strengthen the communication, coordination and the deployment of the maritime militia are creating international concerns. While the militia is currently used as grey-zone warfare during peacetime, in a potential full-blown conflict in the SCS and ECS or with Taiwan, militia boats can be easily incorporated as a conventional tactic.
