By Prashanth Parameswaran
The move could lead to a further escalation in regional disputes.
China is building a new South China Sea fishing fleet for its maritime militia in a move that could intensify regional disputes, an expert told a conference at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) Wednesday.
China’s maritime militia – one of the more understudied agencies in the exercise of Chinese maritime power – typically uses civilian fishing vessels for a range of missions from rescuing stranded vessels to conducting controversial island landings. While voices in China have long called for their inclusion in activities, this would be the first time that the militia would get its own fishing fleet, a boost for the world’s largest producer and exporter of fish and consumer of seafood.
“It appears that China is building a state-owned fishing fleet for its maritime militia force in the South China Sea,” Zhang Hongzhou, associate research fellow at Singapore’s Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told an audience at the two-day conference on Chinese maritime power.
The growing role of the Chinese maritime militia in fishing activities is not entirely new. Indeed, as early as 2013, during a visit to Tanmen fishing town in Hainan Province, President Xi Jinping told maritime militiamen that they should “not only lead fishing activities, but also collect oceanic information and support the construction of islands and reefs” in support of Chinese interests in the South China Sea. Xi’s speech added momentum to the development of the maritime militia, with many coastal cities setting up units and voices calling for more support and resources devoted to training fishermen and building new vessels.
Read the full story at The Diplomat