China's Naval Militia in the West Philippine Sea

Cabbage:Swarm Stategy: Low Intensity Naval Conflict LOW INTENSITY NAVAL CONFLICT : WEST PHILIPPINE SEA "...According to Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute, China’s maritime militia is a component of China’s armed forces and 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..." "...Pentagon’s 2019 China Military Power Report called the militia “a subset of China’s national militia, an armed reserve force of civilians available for mobilization.” The report added that the force “plays a major role in coercive activities to achieve China’s political goals without fighting...." "... Typical of these vessels are the “Yue Tai Yu fleet” purpose-built vessels with mast-mounted water cannons for spraying and with reinforced steel hulls for ramming.." ".....China has used the militia to advance its disputed sovereignty claims in international sea incidents throughout the South and East China seas. For its part, the CSIS think tank believes “some of 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 neighboring states..." "...Duterte has been criticized as Beijing's lapdog for his soft stance on the Asian superpower's militarization efforts in the disputed South China Sea. .." "...After calling the Recto Bank incident a “little maritime accident,” President Rodrigo Duterte is now saying that it is not an “attack” on Philippine sovereignty. #WestPHSea..." "...The Chief Executive has been criticized for his soft stance towards China’s militarization in the disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea. He has also refused to invoke the Philippines’ landmark arbitral victory which invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims in the disputed waters..." "...There is nothing wrong if the government used gas-rich Recto Bank as collateral for a $62-million loan agreement with China, Malacañang said on Monday..." "...Despite Duterte's warm relations with China, the Philippines has a long history of mistrust of it as the two countries continue to spar over the South China Sea. "... Recto Bank is part of the Philippines' 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). According to Article 56 of the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea, this means the Philippines has exclusive rights to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage the natural resources in the area. This includes fish, oil, and natural gas. The 2016 Hague ruling won by the Philippines expressly states Recto Bank is within the country's EEZ and cannot be claimed by China. Why does it matter? By saying there was no violation of Philippine sovereignty and failing to mention sovereign rights, the President is muddling the Recto Bank incident..." Opposition has repeatedly criticized Duterte for setting aside a ruling from a United Nations-backed tribunal that favored Manila and invalidated Beijing's claim to sovereignty over most of the resource-rich waters...." "...Mr. Duterte needlessly raises the bogey of war should the Philippines contradict the Chinese account of events occurring in the South China Sea. “I am not afraid of China,” he declared the other day, “but I am afraid that we have no way of winning against it. And we might be wiped out.” That is how free nations become vassal states...." "...Subi Reef in the South China Sea, seen from a Philippine air force plane on April 21, 2017. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images) By Jessica Chen Weiss May 30 On Wednesday, General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, remarked that despite assurances that there would be no moves to militarize the South China Sea, China had built “10,000-foot runways, ammunition storage facilities” — and routinely deployed aviation and missile defense capabilities. U.S. naval vessels operating in East Asia report being shadowed and harassed by China’s maritime forces. The Royal Australian Navy flagship Canberra also reported a recent encounter in the South China Sea while trailed by a Chinese warship: Its helicopter pilots were hit with lasers from what appeared to be fishing vessels. To put these and other recent events in context, I reached out to two experts: Andrew S. Erickson, a professor at the Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) and a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, and Ryan D. Martinson, a researcher at CMSI. They are the editors of the book “China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations” (U.S. Naval Institute, 2019).