China Tests Maritime Control Tactics With Swarms of Fishing Boats

The New York Times analyzed AIS data and found that China twice mobilized thousands of civilian fishing boats to form massive, densely packed formations in the East China Sea (one in December and another in January), creating floating barriers about 200 miles long. Experts say the maneuvers indicate a coordinated effort to train and showcase maritime militia capabilities, enabling Beijing to rapidly muster large numbers of vessels to monitor or disrupt sea lanes in a potential Taiwan crisis, even though such boats alone could not enforce a blockade.