China has mobilized thousands of fishing boats to create giant floating barriers stretching at least 200 miles, a maneuver analysts believe is designed to demonstrate the country’s ability to rapidly assemble large civilian fleets for military use.
Such drills have been carried out twice in recent weeks. Last week, roughly 1,400 Chinese fishing vessels halted normal operations, returned to home ports, and then deployed into the East China Sea, where they formed a rectangular formation spanning more than 200 miles, according to an analysis by The New York Times. The vessels held relatively steady positions, forcing cargo ships to maneuver around the formation due to its size.
Analysts believe the operation was intended to strengthen and showcase China’s maritime militia, a force made up of civilian boats trained to support military operations. The display demonstrated China’s ability to quickly mass large numbers of vessels in disputed waters.
A similar maneuver occurred last month, when about 2,000 fishing boats mobilized on Christmas Day in two parallel formations, each roughly 290 miles long, forming an L-shaped pattern at sea.
The maneuvers come amid continued speculation about a potential future conflict between China and Taiwan, raising concerns that China could mobilize tens of thousands of civilian ships as part of a naval operation. While the fishing vessels would be too small to enforce a traditional blockade, analysts say they could still obstruct the movement of US ships or act as missile and torpedo decoys designed to overwhelm radar systems.
“The sight of that many vessels operating in concert is staggering,” said Starboard analyst Mark Douglas, according to the New York Times. He said neither he nor his colleagues had ever seen a formation "of this size and discipline before.”
“The level of coordination to get that many vessels into a formation like this is significant,” Douglas added.
Chinese officials have not publicly commented on the activities. The vessels operating in the East China Sea were located near Shanghai, home to some of the world’s largest ports and busiest shipping lanes.
The most recent drill took place shortly after China conducted two days of military exercises around Taiwan, which included practicing naval maneuvers to blockade the island.
