Publication

This bulletin focuses on the civilian and economic components of China’s maritime power, with a special emphasis on the contributions being made by the country’s merchant marine and fishing fleets to Beijing’s ocean borne influence and capabilities. As the bulletin's author sees it, the US and its allies need to interact and engage with these non-military Chinese maritime actors in order to ensure that they act in stable rather than unstable ways. While being interacted with, however, the maritime and fishing fleets also need to be monitored, their current and potential defense capabilities need to be gauged, and their growing security roles (as proxies for the Chinese Navy) need to be accounted for.