Dubbed the “Little Blue Men”
China’s little-known Maritime Militia
is the bad cop of the seas.
They do the dirty work that China’s navy won’t.
Helping China’s military
“win a war without gunsmoke.”
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
China’s navy is one of the biggest in the world,
with about 400 warships and submarines.
These ships belong to the People's Liberation Army Navy—
or PLAN.
It’s part of the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party.
And the People's Liberation Army Navy
are the big boys with the biggest toys.
And the biggest hammer and sickle.
The Navy’s main job is to protect China
from hostile foreign invaders—
like the evil British—
And to be prepared in case they need to,
I don’t know,
invade a neighboring island.
The Communist Party also has
a second military force at sea:
the China Coast Guard,
which is run by the People’s Armed Police.
That’s China’s paramiltary police force,
which is run by the Central Military Commission.
The Coast Guard’s job is domestic law enforcement.
Which for China, I imagine would be
mostly cracking down on Chinese dissident pirates.
Arrrrrr.
The Coast Guard also does search and rescue missions...
at least when the state-run media cameras are rolling.
And the Communist Party also yet another military force at sea.
This third branch is the little-known
People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia,
or PAFMM.
I mean, with an acronym like PAFMM
you can’t really blame them for low brand recognition.
Definitely the worst acronym,
and also the worst ships.
These maritime militia ships are typically civilian ships,
often with crews of fishermen.
But like the rest of China’s militia,
these ships answer to the People's Armed Forces chain of command,
which is 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.
So they’re essentially civilian ships that do
normal civilian stuff most of the time.
But they can be activated
like sleeper agents by the Chinese military.
China's maritime militia has been dubbed
the 'Little Blue Men'.
The guy who came up with the term Little Blue Men
is Andrew Erickson,
a professor at the U.S. Naval War College
and author of China's Maritime Gray Zone Operations.
"Little blue men" is a reference to Russia's "little green men."
Those are out-of-uniform Russian soldiers
used in Crimea and the Ukraine
to do all kinds of dirty work
without being officially tied to the Russian military.
In his book “China's Maritime Gray Zone Operations”,
Erickson describes how the Communist Party
uses the maritime militia to harass other countries' navies
and wage what in Chinese is known as
a "war without gunsmoke."
That means pushing the limits of confrontation,
but stopping just short of outright combat
in order to “win without fighting.”
Sometimes these maritime militia ships themselves
are used like weapons—
to bump and ram other ships.
Ok, technically that smoke is not gunsmoke,
but someone’s definitely trying to start a fight.
They use a whole range of non-lethal tactics,
including powerful water cannons
that can damage sensitive equipment on foreign ships.
Why?
To drive other navies out and solidify
China's unresolved claims to territory in the Yellow Sea,
East China Sea, and South China Sea.
Sometimes they band together...
... and barge into contested territorial waters.
In fact, the Philippines recently lodged
diplomatic complaints over Chinese Maritime Militia ships
that surrounded parts of the Spratly Islands
administered by the Philippines.
Hundreds of the militia ships have been blocking Filipino boats
from being able to fish in the area.
Other times, the maritime militia ships
swarm around US ships
on freedom of navigation missions.
All the while, the Chinese navy watches from afar,
ready to jump in and escalate to full blown conflict
if the American response to the maritime militia is too forceful.
“China’s Navy is bear-hugging the US Navy
to learn more about our best practices,
talking the talk of a good cop,
while the bad cops—
the Coast Guard and maritime militia—
are doing the dirty work in the East China Sea
and the South China Sea.”
The big danger is that one of these maritime militia boats
might go a little too far in its role as the bad cop.
Back in March 2009,
five Chinese Maritime Militia vessels
surrounded the USNS Impeccable—
an unarmed American ship doing an underwater survey
in disputed waters off the coast of China’s Hainan province.
These vessels “shadowed and aggressively maneuvered
in dangerously close proximity.”
And then when the Impeccable tried to leave,
“two of the Chinese ships stopped
‘directly ahead of USNS Impeccable,
forcing Impeccable to conduct an emergency “all stop”
in order to avoid collision.’”
Fortunately, there was no collision.
And after some angry diplomatic statements from both sides,
the incident was swept under the rug.
But what if it happens again—
maybe during an American freedom of navigation operation
near one of China’s newly militarized artificial islands?
And what if this time, there *is* a collision?
Even if it’s accidental,
if a crew member on either side is killed,
it could quickly escalate past the point of diplomacy.
And then the People’s Liberation Army Navy gets called in,
and it won’t be a “war without gunsmoke” any longer.
So what can the US do?
One option is to completely stop
all freedom of navigation operations.
But that’s not going to happen.
Because the moment the US stops,
the Chinese regime’s territorial claims will go from this...
...to this.
Ryan Martinson,
a researcher at the US Naval War College,
says there’s another option.
He says the US should “develop a range of nonlethal tactics
that it can use to achieve local effects
without resorting to use of force.”
That includes continuing the freedom of navigation operations
that challenge the Communist Party’s territorial claims.
And furthermore, he says,
“If the United States wants to be effectual,
it must do more to expose China’s gray zone activities.”
Yes, they need to be exposed.
And I don’t mean the kind of exposure
like that time in 2009
when “the Chinese crewmembers disrobed to their underwear”
and continued closing in on the USNS Impeccable.
I...don’t understand what that was supposed to accomplish.
By exposing, I think Martinson meant
there needs to be more media coverage of these incidents.
And that’s why you—
yes, you, my amazing viewers—
can help by sharing this episode with your family and friends.
Let them know how the Chinese Communist Party
has been quietly using civilian ships
as a way to stir up trouble for foreign vessels.
And also, tell me what you think.
Leave your comments below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.