China has thousands of “fishing” boats.
And they’re up to some pretty shady things
But now, the US and its allies are working together to stop them.
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
President Joe Biden has made his first trip to Asia.
And US China policy was the major topic of conversation.
For more on that, check out Friday’s China Uncensored episode.
But part of Biden’s trip included a meeting of the Quad.
That’s an alliance between the US, India, Japan, and Australia.
It’s aimed at countering the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo Pacific.
And they announced a new plan to track Chinese dark ships in the Indo-Pacific.
What are Dark Ships?
Does it involve the series finale of Pirates of Dark Water that everyone has been demanding?
What?
No, that’s just me?
Anyway, dark ships are called that because they basically hide their location and identities,
usually because they're doing something illegal.
And China has a massive fishing fleet that does just that.
It's the largest deep water fishing fleet in the world—about 17,000 ships, according
to the British Overseas Development Institute.
So what kind of illegal activities do Chinese dark ships get up to?
Well, these are some truly nefarious things.
I’ll tell you more after this quick break.
Welcome back.
There’s a reason Chinese ships turn off their transponders and locators and go dark.
It’s because they’re up to some pretty shady things.
Now to be clear, a lot of Chinese fishing ships aren’t really fishing ships.
Giant ones like these are part of a little known branch of the Chinese military, the
People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia.
They answer to the People's Armed Forces chain of command.
Now that’s technically separate from the People’s Liberation Army.
But when activated for missions, they operate like a naval unit, sometimes even taking instructions
directly from the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Essentially, Chinese fishing boats double as sleeper agents for the Chinese military.
China's maritime militia has been dubbed the 'Little Blue Men'.
Of course, the Chinese Communist Party’s official line is that they don’t exist.
In fact, in response to the recent Quad meeting...
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said “We ask the countries concerned to
refrain from wearing tinted glasses and making unfounded accusations.”
“Engaging in ‘small circles’ and stirring up rival camps is the real threat to building
a peaceful, stable and cooperative maritime order.”
Okay, so just so we’re all on the same page, we’re talking about dark ships filled with
little blue men, wearing tinted glasses, going in small circles around rival camps.
I love China news.
There are basically two main things China’s maritime militia gets up to.
One is overfishing.
China has a huge number of small fishing boats.
“China’s fishing fleet appears engaged, often illegally, in the effort to haul in
as much seafood as it can, as fast as it can, in as many places as it can—with little
regard for how its practices affect malnourished people or diminish the stocks of their fish.”
China has almost completely depleted their own territorial waters.
So now they need to get fish from other countries’ waters.
But they might not be other countries’ waters for long.
Because there's another reason China is doing this: Expanding Territorial Claims
So I mentioned China has a lot of small fishing boats—like these.
But they also have giant ones like these.
They are not actually civilian fishing boats.
They’re officially part of China’s maritime militia.
“They never fish—they just use fishing boats to monitor other fleets, run supplies,
or ram other boats.”
For example, back in 2021, more than 200 of these Chinese maritime militia ships anchored
at Whitsun Reef.
For months.
They were patrolling in patterns that no normal fishing vessels would ever exhibit.
That is to say, a significant portion of China’s so-called fishing boats are actually sleeper
agents for the Chinese Communist military.
They’re helping China slowly expand its territorial claims around the world, particular
in the Indo Pacific.
So how does the Quad plan to deal with it?
More after this final commercial break.
Welcome back.
The Quad knows China’s maritime militia, disguised as fishing boats, is a threat.
And they’ve just announced a plan to track them.
Now you might be wondering: These are *dark ships*; aren’t they hiding their location
and identity so they can’t be tracked?
Well the Quad has a plan.
“Over the next five years, the Quad members—the United States, Japan, Australia and India—will
share unclassified data” they gather about these ships.
According to the White House, “This initiative will transform the ability of partners in
the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region to fully monitor the waters
on their shores and, in turn, to uphold a free and open Indo Pacific.”
This kind of data sharing has never happened before between the Quad countries.
And it couldn't come at a more crucial time.
The Solomon Islands has just signed a security pact with China that could put a Chinese naval
base there, right on the doorstep of Australia and New Zealand.
Even more serious is the recent talk of a Chinese base in Kiribati.
(source https://archive.ph/Yl3kr)
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “Kiribati would be
much more serious than the Solomons.
Not only are they relatively close to Hawaii, but under the Treaty of Tarawa the US agreed
to give up its claims to those islands on the condition that Kiribati wouldn’t allow
any third party basing on them without consulting the US.”
So it also could be a violation of the US treaty.
And that could lead to a major dispute.
But I think there’s at least one thing we can all agree on: The world desperately needs
a proper conclusion to Pirates of Dark Water.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of the people who support China uncensored
by contributing directly through Patreon or Locals.
Today’s question comes from...
Jonathan Robertson: “Chris, Shelly, and company, is the China Uncensored site on Rumble
legit?”
Hi Jonathan.
Yes, the China Uncensored page on Rumble is legit.
We have an official site on Locals where China Uncensored fans interact with each other—and
also contribute to the show.
Last year, when Rumble bought Locals, they asked us if we wanted a Rumble page, and we
said yes.
So it’s basically a copy of our YouTube videos.
There’s not nearly as many viewers there, of course.
But at least Rumble won’t censor us the way YouTube does.
It’s good to have both.
And speaking of YouTube alternatives, we’re also on Odysee.
Thanks for your question, Jonathan.
Be like Jonathan.
Support China Uncensored by joining our social media platform on Locals...
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Both are great.
Links are below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.