China Rehearses Naval Blockade with Mass Fishing Fleet Mobilisation

Grey Zone Tactics: China Tests Massive Civilian Fleet for Naval Blockade

Mohd Hanif Ismail - : Jan 20, 2026 - : 9:02 am

To read the full article, please log in or enter your email below:

The People’s Republic of China has significantly escalated its regional power projection by mobilising thousands of civilian fishing vessels to rehearse coordinated naval blockade manoeuvres. Recent satellite imagery and ship-tracking data have revealed a series of sophisticated exercises in the East China Sea, where massive clusters of trawlers formed dense, multi-hundred-kilometre barriers. These activities represent a shift from traditional maritime harassment to large-scale, disciplined tactical formations that could fundamentally alter the strategic landscape of the Asia-Pacific maritime domain.

The first significant mobilisation occurred on Christmas Day, 25 December 2025, when approximately 2,000 fishing vessels abruptly ceased routine operations to assemble into two parallel 'L' shaped formations. This nautical wall extended for roughly 460 kilometres (approximately 286 miles) off the coast of Ningbo. A subsequent exercise on 11 January 2026 involved an estimated 1,400 vessels forming a rectangular blockade stretching over 320 kilometres (199 miles). The density of these formations was sufficient to force international commercial cargo ships to deviate from established shipping lanes or navigate in erratic patterns to avoid collisions.

Analysis provided by The New York Times, Starboard Maritime Intelligence, and the analytics firm ingeniSPACE suggests these manoeuvres were not organic fishing activities but highly choreographed military rehearsals. These reports, supported by further commentary from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and the Maritime Executive, indicate that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is actively testing the command-and-control infrastructure required to integrate civilian assets into formal military operations. These drills coincided with the broader 'Justice Mission 2025' naval exercises, which focused on the simulated seizure and isolation of key territories.

The strategic role of the maritime militia

The use of the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM) provides Beijing with a potent tool for grey zone warfare—actions that fall below the threshold of open armed conflict but achieve strategic objectives through coercion. By utilising a fleet that remains nominally civilian, the PLA can complicate the rules of engagement for regional navies and the United States Pacific Fleet. The sheer scale of the January mobilisation demonstrates a capacity to create 'floating barriers' that could supplement a formal naval blockade, effectively throttling sea lines of communication without initially deploying high-end surface combatants.

Implications for Asia-Pacific maritime security

For defence planners in the Asia-Pacific, these exercises signal a maturing of China’s 'salami slicing' tactics. The ability to hold a formation for over 30 hours, as observed during the January drills, suggests a level of logistical and communications proficiency previously unseen in the militia fleet. This development is particularly concerning for Taiwan and its partners, as it provides a low-cost, high-volume method to enforce a 'quarantine' or 'blockade' scenario. The cost of maintaining a 24-hour presence with thousands of low-cost hulls is significantly lower than deploying a comparable number of destroyers or frigates.

Regional response and procurement trends

In response to this evolving threat, regional actors are adjusting their maritime procurement and operational strategies. Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council has already announced plans to expand its Coast Guard fleet to 147 vessels by 2031, with a focus on high-endurance patrol ships capable of withstanding the 'shouldering' and ramming tactics often employed by the militia. Additionally, there is an increased emphasis on maritime domain awareness (MDA) technologies, including synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), to monitor these vast swarms in real-time.