{"id":54046,"date":"2026-04-04T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/?p=54046"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:35:59","slug":"chinas-fishing-militia-as-a-power-political-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marineforum.online\/en\/chinas-fischereimiliz-als-machtpolitischer-faktor\/","title":{"rendered":"China's fishing militia as a power-political factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the presidents of the USA and Israel are fanning the flames in the Middle East, far away in the East China Sea, China is temporarily changing the topography of entire sea areas with its maritime militia consisting of thousands of paramilitary fishing boats. Between Taiwan and Japan - in the middle of the East China Sea (ECS) - the Chinese navy created a 300 nautical mile long north-south line in a kind of \u201eocean flash mob\u201c with the help of around 2,000 fairly identical fishing vessels, which could be easily observed from space. On 26 December 2025, 11 January and 3 March 2026, thousands of boats concentrated like a remote-controlled swarm of insects on or near the Sino-Japanese dividing line of the economic zones and formed a precisely drawn line like an impenetrable barrier on the surface of the sea. This \u201eOcean Wall\u201c can be seen as an exercise and certainly also as a demonstration of the feasibility of a \u201elarge-scale, militarily coordinated operation\u201c.<\/p>\n

\"Satellite
Satellite analysis of ship movements on 26 December 2025. graphic: ingeniSPACE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As long as fishing is involved, such behaviour is not illegal under the Japan-China Fisheries Agreement, but the \u201elittle blue men\u201c probably had a very different intention in this semi-military grey zone operation, which has much more to do with Chinese claims to power over Taiwan and the southern foothills of Japan, the Senkaku Islands. Assigned to Japanese administration under international law, China is very keen to claim these five scattered and uninhabited islets and three rocky reefs north-east of Taiwan for itself in order to drive a wedge between Japan and Taiwan and prospectively gain access to the mineral resources. Incidentally, all foreign companies trading in the People's Republic of China are instructed to refer to these islands with the Chinese name \u201eDiaoyu\u201c in their documentation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Satellite
Satellite analysis of ship movements on 11 January 2026. graphic: ingeniSPACE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Further south of these islands, the chain of Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa regency) still blocks the Chinese navy's unrestricted access to the open Pacific. A dozen of Japan's more substantial patrol vessels are stationed in the harbour of Ishigaki, the southernmost and largest base of the military Japan Coast Guard. However, as they mostly operate on a single-ship basis in their extensive area of responsibility, confrontations with civilian-marked ships, especially if they appear in large numbers and in a coordinated manner, can lead to critical situations. Such swarms believe that the law of the jungle is on their side and can present a Japanese defence as an armed attack at any time. By reversing the narrative, they are able to deprive the Japanese forces of their legal means of action within their own territory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, as the Chinese navy's twin aircraft carrier operation in mid-2025 has shown,<\/p>\n

China's aircraft carrier manoeuvre off Japan: carrier group in a double pack<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n