- China is asserting claims to all the waters and air space

of the South China Sea.

And they're doing it not primarily with military

or law enforcement vessels,

they're doing it with an armed militia

that camouflages itself by operating on fishing boats.

The maritime militia is really the tip

of the spear for China's power projection

in the South China Sea.

The South China Sea is the most contested piece

of geography on the planet.

The largest recent deployment we've seen of this militia

has taken place over the last seven months

around Thitu Island which is occupied

by about 100 Filipino civilians

and a small military contingent.

China has had dozens of these militia boats

surrounding the island every day.

On a shot from December 20th,

what you see is 95 Chinese boats.

The heaviest day that we have monitored around this feature.

Every one of them are large.

None of them broadcasting the signals that they should be

to avoid collisions.

None of them with nets or other gear in the water.

None of them fishing.

They just sit there for long periods of time monitoring

and intimidating the Filipinos.

It seems clear that China's goal in the South China Sea

is to establish effective dominance of all the waters

and air space within what they call the 9-Dash Line.

They don't want to do that by fighting a military conflict

with the United States or anybody else.

What they want to do is use civilian actors,

these paramilitary forces to effectively control the space.

Make it impossible for their neighbors to operate,

and therefore win without ever having to fight.

The U.S. needs to turn away

from strictly military responses.

The U.S. Navy has a role in deterring outward aggression

and backing up our partners.

But the U.S. Navy cannot secure

fishing rights for Filipinos.

They can't secure law enforcement rights

for their neighbors.

The only thing that can do that is a diplomatic

and maybe economic effort in trying to convince China

to modify its claims and especially its behavior

to take these paramilitary forces off the board

before there's a crisis.