China somehow doesn’t publish the names of its maritime militia vessels. This would undermine the militia’s fundamental advantages of secrecy and deniability. It is also uncommon for Chinese publications to identify particular vessels’ militia connections. Analysts are using clues to determine if a ship is probable to be China’s maritime militia vessel or not.
Since 2014, China has constructed dozens of massive Spratly fishing boats, dubbed the “Spratly backbone fleet.” As we have stated in War on the Rocks, the majority, if not all, of these boats are associated with the marine militia. This idea…