INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH OBSERVATORY
CHINAS MARITIME MILITIA-INTELLIGENCE NOTES
METHODOLOGY-OSINT research
Background & Analysis
The Chinese Maritime Militia is an effective auxiliary mechanism of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). This seagoing naval militia engages in the ordinary support roles of the regular navy, but more importantly, it operates in a different space as a grey zone operator. On occasion the militia operates autonomously; alternatively it functions within the command structure of the PLAN. As a grey zone operator the maritime militia will engage in activities that the regular Chinese navy can not. This allows the Chinese regular navy to avoid increased tensions on the world stage, with adversaries in contentious maritime environments. The maritime militia is able to conduct activities that could escalate to war, should PLAN naval ships be employed. Activities the maritime militia engages in may be considered irregular or asymmetrical in nature. Actions include; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, sabotage, contested water skirmishes, obstruction, reef/island development, mine laying, concealment missions, spying and ambush. The maritime militia is exceptional in two areas of operations; missions that require small vessels which can linger unnoticed for long periods of time, and obstruction missions where contested waters are saturated with militia vessels as part of “cabbage strategy.” (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016) The term Cabbage Strategy is described as “surrounding a contested maritime area with so many boats — fishermen, fishing administration ships, marine surveillance ships, navy warships” that the disputed island is essentially wrapped like layers of cabbage. (The Diplomat, 2013) Studies by the United States Naval War College estimates include well over 300 vessels and close to 4,000 personnel, though that is probably a major underestimation. (Asia Times, 2019) One of the most interesting examples of Grey Zone operations conducted by the Chinese maritime militia is that in countering the US spy ship, USS Impeccable. The Impeccable while monitoring the submarine base at Sanya was sent warnings by the Chinese naval & coast guard vessels to leave the area. When the Impeccable did not, the ship was swarmed by Maritime Militia trawlers, which not only blocked its passage, but used grapple hooks to snag the Impeccable’s towed sonar array used to track submarines. The Impeccable might have seen the Chinese warships or Coast Guard cutters as threatening enough to fire on them. The innocent-looking militia trawlers were able to get the job done without a shot being fired. (Asia Times, 2019) The maritime militia of China is such an effective mechanism that Vietnam is countering Chinas maritime militia with its own version. Unlike the Chinese maritime militia the Vietnamese sea militia is not professional or permanent; however, in response to new situations in the South China Sea, the Vietnamese maritime militia force is expected to become a permanent militia and self-defense force in 2019. (MAP, 2019) The maritime militia of China is a formidable force, which offers an understated, pragmatic and grassroots approach to modern naval warfare. The irregular and asymmetrical nature of the sea militia coupled with the no-nonsense logistical capability makes it a force multiplier not seen in many modern navies, and one could argue the activities carried out by maritime militias are a form of low profile naval special operations.
[Photo Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense The Peoples Republic of China & China News]
What is Chinas Maritime Militia?
- Chinas Maritime Militia is a citizen sailor organization of seafaring personnel, many are fisherman skilled in maritime operations, and commercial seamanship which is easily transferred to navel security operations and navy support; it is a reserve or auxiliary mechanism of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)
- The Pentagon describes the Chinese maritime militia as “a subset of China’s national militia, an armed reserve force of civilians available for mobilization” (Defense News, 2019)
- There is a primary component of the maritime militia, which trains regularly and is more skilled then the less active ordinary component with basic skills and less frequent training (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016)
- Dr. Andrew S. Erickson Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute describes “The Maritime Militia as an irreplaceable mass armed organization not released from production and a component of China’s ocean defense armed forces [that enjoys] low sensitivity and great leeway in maritime rights protection actions.”
What Are Some of the Roles of Chinas Maritime Militia?
- Pentagon’s 2019 China Military Power Report says, the maritime militia force “plays a major role in coercive activities to achieve China’s political goals without fighting.”
- China’s armed forces is employed in so-called gray zone operations, or “low-intensity maritime rights protection struggles,” at a level designed to frustrate effective response by the other parties involved (Defense News, 2019)
- The maritime militia will confront other states’ fishing and naval vessels, and prevent incursions along the coast
- Militia members often serve as the first responders in emergencies since they are already distributed out across the seas (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016)
- The best-trained and best-equipped members engage in overt paramilitary activities such as the harassment of foreign vessels operating near Chinese-held islets or dangerous standoffs with vessels from neighbouring states (Defense News, 2019)
[Photo Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense The Peoples Republic of China]
What Kind of Missions Does the Chinese Maritime Militia Execute?
List adopted from the Center for Naval Analysis by Erickson & Kennedy
- Logistics Support
- Advanced mission support
- Protection of Chinas maritime rights
- Transport capacity-lift personnel, vehicles, equipment
- Medical rescue services-casualty recovery
- Navigational assistance
- Repairs of vessels refitting in emergency
- Fuel replenishment at sea
- Docks & infrastructure
- Naval concealment operations-smoke, corner reflectors, chaff grenades
- Mine warfare
- Blockade ops
- Information & electronic warfare
- National disaster relief
- Public health
- Sea rescues in time of peace and war
- National sovereignty at sea-disputed waters
- Law enforcement at sea
- Coast guard assistance & aid
Independent Missions Maritime Militia Training & Capability
- Anti-air missile defense
- Light weapons use
- Sabotage
- Intelligence
- Reconnaissance
- Surveillance
- Missions where loitering in a maritime environment is necessary to conduct intelligence ops (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016)
What Scenarios Would Maritime Militia Be Used In?
Low-intensity peacetime scenarios
- Presence missions, obstruction
- Dealing with fishing-fleet-related skirmishes over maritime claims
- Reef/island development, “cabbage strategy” (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016)
What is Cabbage Strategy?
- Cabbage Strategy is described as “surrounding a contested maritime area with so many boats — fishermen, fishing administration ships, marine surveillance ships, navy warships” that the disputed island is essentially wrapped like layers of cabbage (The Diplomat, 2013)
Medium-intensity Scenarios
- Mine warfare
- Ambush
- False landings, etc
High-intensity Conflict
- Support to active duty forces
- Mine laying
- Replenishment of island bases
- Transporting troops and ammunition
- Rescue
- Repair
- Concealment
- Sabotage (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016)
How Many Personnel and Vessels are there in the Chinese Maritime Militia?
Information on the size of maritime militia is disparate
- Studies by the United States Naval War College estimate to include well over 300 vessels and close to 4,000 personnel, though that is probably a major underestimation (Asia Times, 2019)
- The only estimate of the size of the Maritime Militia is a source published in 1978, which put the number of personnel at 750,000 on approximately 140,000 craft
- Maritime militia members are usually between the ages of 18-35 years
- Militiamen with specialized skills may serve up to age 55 (Erickson & Kennedy, 2016)
Chinas military militia has been developing more professionalized, militarized, well-paid full-time units including military recruits
- China has 84 modern purpose-built vessels with mast-mounted water cannons for spraying and has reinforced steel hulls for ramming
- Known as the “Yue Tai Yu fleet” there are nine 62.8-meter trawlers built by Guangxin Shipbuilding & Heavy Industry in 2017
- After leaving the shipyard that built them, the “Yue Tai Yu fleet” trawlers traveled to the coastal port of Shadi in Guangdong province and spent the next year traveling back and forth between this home port and the disputed chain of Spratly Islands (Defense News, 2019)
What Maritime Incidents Has the Chinese Maritime Militia Participated In?
Publicly-documented examples include South and East China Seas
- China’s 1974 seizure of the Western Paracel Islands from Vietnam
- 1978 swarming into the Senkaku Islands’ territorial sea
- Occupation and development of Mischief Reef resulting in a 1995 incident with the Philippines Harassment of various Vietnamese government/survey vessels, including the Bin Minh and Viking Harassment of USNS Impeccable (2009) and Howard O. Lorenzen (2014)
- Participation in the 2012 seizure of Scarborough Reef from the Philippines and 2014 blockade of Second Thomas Shoal
- 2014 repulsion of Vietnamese vessels from disputed waters surrounding CNOOC’s HYSY-981 oil rig
- Large surge of ships near the Senkakus in 2016 and layered “cabbage-style” envelopment of the Philippines-claimed Sandy Cay shoal near Thitu Island, where China has sustained a presence of at least two Maritime Militia vessels since August 2017 (Maritime Executive, 2019)
Maritime Militia Tactics & Historical Cases
March 2009
- The USS Impeccable, a US spy ship, was about 100 km south of China’s Hainan Island. It was trying to monitor traffic in and out of the submarine base at Sanya on the southern tip of the island. Chinese warships and coast guard cutters approached the Impeccable and sent warnings for it to leave the area. When it did not, the ship was swarmed by Maritime Militia trawlers, which not only blocked its passage, but used grapple hooks to snag the Impeccable’s towed sonar array used to track submarines
- The Impeccable might have seen the Chinese warships or Coast Guard cutters as threatening enough to fire on them. The innocent-looking militia trawlers were able to get the job done without a shot being fired (Asia Times, 2019)
May and June 2011
- The militia trawlers were again in action, this time against research ships operating within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and looking for evidence of submarine oil and gas reserves
- Maritime Militia ships cut the towed survey cables of both the Binh Minh and the Viking 2 (Asia Times, 2019)
Resources
Ministry of National Defense The Peoples Republic of China-Government of China (2020) http://eng.mod.gov.cn/ArmedForces/navy.htm
Beijing’s maritime militia, the scourge of South China Sea-Asia Times-Jonathon Manthorpe (2019) https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/04/article/beijings-maritime-militia-the-scourge-of-south-china-sea/
China’s Hidden Navy-Foreign Policy- Gregory Poling (2019) https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/25/chinas-secret-navy-spratlys-southchinasea-chinesenavy-maritimemilitia/
China’s Maritime Militia-Center for Naval Analysis-Andrew S. Erickson and Conor M. Kennedy (No Date) https://www.cna.org/cna_files/pdf/Chinas-Maritime-Militia.pdf
Testing the waters: China’s maritime militia challenges foreign forces at sea-Defense News-Mike Yeo (2019) https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2019/05/31/testing-the-waters-chinas-maritime-militia-challenges-foreign-forces-at-sea/
China’s Expanding Cabbage Strategy-The Diplomat-Harry Kazianis (2013) https://thediplomat.com/2013/10/chinas-expanding-cabbage-strategy/
Fact Sheet: The People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM)-The Maritime Executive-Andrew S. Erickson (2019) https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/fact-sheet-the-people-s-armed-forces-maritime-militia-pafmm
Maritime Militias in the South China Sea-The Maritime Awareness Project- Nguyen Hong Thao and Ton Nu Thanh Binh (2019) http://maritimeawarenessproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/analysis_thao_binh_061319.pdf
