China View: Hybrid Warfare And The Maritime Militia
NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP
China has become increasingly renowned for having a strong military power. Often, experts have analyzed the increase of manpower in China's legendary People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The PLA has been present since Mao Zedong’s era and has continued to grow throughout the decades transitioning together with the changes occurring within Chinese domestic politics. Nowadays, the PLA is the largest standing army in the world and comprehends five major service branches, which include: the Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Rocket Force, and the Strategic Support Force.
In comparison with the US, which has been the dominant military power since the Second World War, China is now surpassing American in some areas of warfare. The US is renowned worldwide for spending a large number of resources in its military budget to constantly progress and provide updated military support by land, air, and sea. In fact, as shown from the 2019 statistics gathered by the author below, the US military budget occupies 3.1% of the GDP. Even though the defense budget of the US is higher compared to that of China, the horizontal column graph below shows that the active personnel in China outnumbers Americans by almost 1.5 million military members. Airpower data shows that the Chinese government is particularly keen on spending on specific aircrafts, namely fighter aircraft, and is overall improving its presence by air. Numbers regarding the navy are also increasing and surpassing those of the US. Considering China does not have any particular legacy tying its history to that of a strong navy or air force, this is a major milestone symbolizing the wealth and prosperity that has already begun to influence Chinese foreign policy choices. From these statistics, one can notice the total naval units are about 780 and that China is also investing in submarines, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes. Sources, for instance, do not show the presence of these last two for their American counterparts.
Visual Comparison of US-China Air and Naval Power Created by the Author. (Sources: armedforces.eu ; globalfirepower.com, 2019)
Shared Territorial Claims in the South China Sea and the 9-Dash Line. (Credit: PhamHongPhuoc.net, 2014)
Recently, the Chinese Coast Guard has also been included as part of the navy. There is another informal group that exists in the fine line between civilians and military. This is called the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) and is often regarded as the “hidden navy” because it consists of fishermen that, under the request of the government, may act as a backup force for the People’s Liberation Army - Navy including the Chinese Coast Guard for special operations. Most journalistic sources denounced this auxiliary group as an ambitious and undeclared military which has emerged especially for the sake of advancing the Chinese “salami-slicing” strategy in the South China Sea. Chinese “salami-slicing” is the gradual advancement of military forces to coerce smaller countries in the South China Sea into accepting the Chinese 9 dash-framed maritime claims in the region. In 2016, Al Jazeera interviewed fishermen that were supposedly responsible for the standoff with the Philippine Navy at Scarborough Shoal in 2012, however, the article claims most fishermen did not reveal the truth about the CMM as an official branch of the PLA. A video by media ANC 24/7 below shows two Filipino speakers explaining the issue and describing how this militia effect's the attitude of the Filipino government in the South China Sea.
It seems, therefore, that the Chinese Maritime Militia is used as part of a new strategy to advance a hybrid military approach and passively pressure countries into giving up territories to China. A video bye US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) below introduces this as a cold warfare tactic and a useful tool with which China can investigate movements in the Sea. However, it is true that, while most media support the theory that the Chinese Maritime Militia is an ambiguous sub-branch of the Chinese Coast Guard, the Maritime Awareness Project argues that this group is recognized in the 2013 Chinese Defense White Paper, which claims the CMM was built as a subset of China's national militia and that recruitees do receive military training from the People’s Navy to participate in drills with the Navy and Coast Guard. Under Article 36 of the China Military Service Law, the CMM is declared to have the functions to “undertake the duties related to preparations against war, defend the frontiers, and maintain public order; and be always ready to join the armed forces to take part in war, resist aggression and defend the motherland.” From here, it emerges the importance of critically analyzing the origin of the sources used, as they may vary perspective according to their country of provenance and according to the system of governance they may be affiliated to.
“Salami-slicing” is not a new strategy, as it was already employed in the 1962 and 1974 conflicts over the Paracel Islands (part of the South China Sea claims), however, it is still subject of debate to this date because its effects have been increasingly affecting other countries’ political decision-making on how to react in the South China Sea to avoid the escalation of military conflict between China and ASEAN countries. Because the mainstream argument on the issue sees China as an aggressive and assertive power seeking to maximize militarization, a video by Al Jazeera below presents instead both sides of the story, showing the perspective of Chinese fishermen. While one of the reasons behind the South China Sea claims held by China is that these waters appear to have had an important role in Chinese history, the most realistic reason is that ASEAN countries have involved superpowers like the US, India, and Japan to provide military support and training to their developing systems. China, then, has considered these moves as an offense both towards China and towards Asia. This international involvement goes against Xi Jinping's ideal that “Asia is for the Asians” and therefore all Asian matters should be handled “at home.”
This situation has created an inevitable security dilemma, under which both China and Southeast Asian countries will continue to seek military growth for self-preservation and self-defense. It is true that data concerning Chinese Maritime Militia units is not openly declared together with the genuine intentions the Mainland has in the region, therefore this uncomfortable situation will continue to exist and worsen if multilateral communication is not enhanced in the near future. The presence of non-regional powers adds a general alarmed sentiment that is clearly widespread globally and worries countries on whether this cold conflict will eventually turn into a war, therefore turning a hybrid strategy at sea into hybrid warfare.
“The Chinese Maritime Militia in the South China Sea.” (CREDIT: ALJAZEERA)
