Maritime militia give China the edge in South China Sea

Prof. Carl Schuster, Indo-Asian News Service

According to reports, China recently warned the United States that it will face defeat if the two superpowers go to war. This warning is a testimony to what China thinks about its military might.

The threat to the US has come from China in response to the joint military exercise carried out by the US, Japan, Australia, and France last week amidst tension in the East China Sea. Tension is also mounting in the South China Sea with the Philippines refusing to withdraw vessels from the disputed territory.

Despite all these activities by PAFMM, the Chinese government headed by Chairman Xi Jingping has never accepted any link between PAFMM and China’s military. They claim that they are fishermen. This enables the PRC to deny any involvement of the Chinese government in these scuffles.

The PAFMM do not regularly use firearms or other military weapons so their actions cannot be called an ‘act of war’ which might trigger retaliation. It may also compel Manila to seek US support under the US-Philippine Mutual Defence Treaty. That is why the US calls PRC’s actions ‘Grey Zone Operations’, which means they are acts of aggression, but fall short of military actions that would risk triggering a military response.

The PAFMM still continues with its activities in the East and South China Sea. For occupying an uninhabited island, the PAFMM does the initial seizure posing as fishermen. When other countries confront them with their Coast Guards or other law enforcement agencies, they find themselves confronting an armed militia, which is fully backed by China’s Coast Guard or Navy. The situation can escalate into a full-fledged war if the other party insists on vacating the island.

Such is the highhandedness of China that when an International Arbitration held the Chinese occupation illegal, it refused to abide by the judgment saying all nations should ‘respect’ international law.

At the time of the real war PAFMM may shift to supporting roles like defensive mining. They did this during the PLA Navy exercise in 2014. They would act as one of the many eyes of the fleet, land militia troops in remote areas or covertly land troops before the actual war starts.

A unit of the People’s Armed Forces, PAFMM operates under direct military command for carrying out state-sponsored activities. Although they are locally supported but report to the head of China’s military — Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping.

The exact number of fishing vessels possessed by PAFMM is not known, but estimates put the figure at around 350, out of which 225 are deployed in the South China Sea. Their vessel hulls are made up of reinforced steel, which are very strong. On the other hand, most of the other fishing vessels in the South China Sea are made of wood or other light materials. The PAFMM vessels are faster, which puts them at an advantageous position in an encounter. They can ‘bump’ the enemy’s vessel at will with little risk of damaging their own strong hull.

Most of the fishermen from other countries are unarmed, but PAFMM vessels have small arms and, in some cases, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) and machine guns. They are rarely used but are available on the vessels. The PAFMM vessels have water cannon mounted above the pilot house. They aim the spray at the other vessels’ pilot house to blind the crew, but sometimes they aim it at the engine exhaust. Cold sea water hitting a hot engine tends to damage the engine, leaving the craft non-functional in the water. The PAFMM vessel can then do what it wants -- bump, ram or just leave.

Traditional thought in Chinese military believes in isolating the enemy and establishing an advantageous geo-political and military superiority before engaging in a war. Also, the best leader is the one who achieves ‘victory’ without fighting. China has secured much of the South China Sea and is using the PAFMM to expand its control without firing a shot. It has worked so far. However, doing that around the Senkaku may prove to be difficult and expensive.