Are China's research vessels plotting a route to war? - DW News
China has, for the first time, publicly acknowledged that its research vessels are surveying disputed shoals in the South China Sea. Beijing says the ships are conducting scientific research. Critics say they're gathering data that could strengthen China's territorial claims and military capabilities. So what are these vessels really looking for?
3rd Annual International House Journalism Award -
Prof. Chisako Masuo’s research on China’s fishing-fleet mobilisation — work our analysis supported — was honoured in Japan’s I-House journalism awards.
AFP China Deploys Record Number of Ships Around Taiwan as Pressure Grows
Taiwan's coast guard logged more Chinese government ships in its waters last month than in any month on record. Pressure has stopped being episodic.
China Maritime Militia Tied to Taiwan Undersea Cable Damage in Suspected Gray-Zone Operation
Two vessels with documented maritime-militia training histories were present when the cable to Taiwan's outer islands went down. Not a coincidence.
China Ends East China Sea Fishing Ban: Japan on High Alert Over Maritime Militia Risks - Kyodo News
China's East China Sea fishing ban has lifted and Japan is watching the fleet, not the catch. When the same hulls train, the season opens an operation.
New Construction in Taiwan’s EEZ Demands a Closer Look —JAMESTOWN CHINA BRIEF
An operational CNOOC wind turbine now stands inside Taiwan's EEZ,. Celebrated by PRC media, the coverage uniformly neglected to mention one crucial detail: the Haiyou Anlan wind turbine has been installed in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This is not the first time.
La «nueva normalidad» de China en torno a Taiwán: menos aviones y más coerción marítima
Fewer aircraft, more maritime coercion. China's new normal around Taiwan is not de-escalation — it is a switch to the quieter instrument of pressure.
RTI’s Taiwan Monitor: Tausend chinesische Fischerboote in Formation: China's Maritime Miliz
China's coast guard operates as an instrument of state power, not law enforcement. The manoeuvre east of Taiwan was aimed at Washington's allies too.
NZZ: China’s Coast Guard Is More Than a Police Force. It’s an Instrument of Power. Nur eine grosse Seepolizei? Nein, Chinas Küstenwache ist ein Instrument zur Machtausübung
China’s Coast Guard Is More Than a Police Force. It’s an Instrument of Power.
A #PRC Chinese Coast Guard vessel is maneuvering near #ScarboroughReef in the #SouthChina#Sea. Beijing's recent activities in the region are causing continued tensions.
CIMSEC - China Is Rehearsing More Than Amphibious Landings
Jason Wang and Marvin Bernardo on Sea Control 606, unpacking our Naval War College report: the PLA practiced landing in three places at once.
The invasion debate fixates on amphibious lift. The exercises point elsewhere: moving, sustaining and concealing a campaign across multiple locations.
China’s Marine Survey Ships as a Security Challenge for Japan and the Region - Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA)
According to AIS data, the research vessel Zhong Shan Da Xue sailed through the South China Sea from May to June 2025. However, Sun Yat-sen University declared that the vessel was active in the South China Sea in August 2025, which contradicts the AIS data. The announcement stated that Sun Yat-sen University had conducted sea-trials of Haiqin, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) capable of operating at depths of up to 6,000 meters, and that Zhong Shan Da Xue had deployed the Haidou-1 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) at the same time. This marked the first scientific survey conducted by coordinating two different unmanned vehicles via a single support ship14.
![TAGESSCHAU: Warum Chinas „Fischerflotte“ plötzlich Mauern im Meer baut [Why China’s “fishing fleet” is suddenly building walls in the sea]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60bdda78c9bca3296685d761/1781078862234-HDRAL80POQKGF1M9YLR7/tagesschau+rabbit+hole+graphic.png)
TAGESSCHAU: Warum Chinas „Fischerflotte“ plötzlich Mauern im Meer baut [Why China’s “fishing fleet” is suddenly building walls in the sea]
December, January, March — three times, hundreds of Chinese fishing boats formed lines at sea. Tagesschau asked the obvious question: were they fishing?
“I am a militiaman,” one captain, who leads a fleet, said. He allowed Asahi Shimbun reporters aboard his boat…
A fishing captain told Asahi's reporters he is a militiaman. Analysts put the maritime militia at 200,000–300,000. China’s ambiguity is irregular warfare
“I’m a Militia Member”: Tracking the Chinese Fishing Fleet That Forms a Maritime “Wall”
They said the quiet part out loud; we tracked what they did. AIS and imagery behind the maritime wall — how a line of boats becomes a barrier, and why it recurs.
China Maritime Report #52: Everything Everywhere All At Once — The Growing Complexity of PLA Amphibious Exercises
The PLA landed in three places at once during its annual Amphibious Warfare Capstone Exercises, roughly 360 km apart — about Taipei to Kaohsiung — against obstacles matching Taiwan's coast. A rehearsal.
OP-ED: 中国侵攻 海の監視強化で対抗
You cannot deter what you cannot see. Countering an invasion of Taiwan can only be stopped if you can see the signals - Taiwan still needs to contribute to the Allied Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance architecture not just rely on it.
中国軍演習、民間船使い高度化
PLA exercises are growing sophisticated in a specific way: they run on dual-use civilian shipping. Capability that appears in no order of battle - reducing the reaction time of Taiwan military.
See How China Is Gaining Power in Contested Waters - Chinese fishing vessels pushed within 150 miles of a U.S. naval base in Japan last month, the latest maneuver in a decades long campaign
About 200 Chinese fishing boats—part of China’s state-directed maritime fleet—recently pushed further east in the Yellow Sea. Some came within 150 miles of the Japanese city of Sasebo, home to a core U.S. naval base, according to ship-tracking data provided by geospatial analysis firm ingeniSPACE and verified by The Wall Street Journal.
Maritime Executive: China's Naval Drills Show Growing Focus on Capturing Taiwan
Years of drills near Taiwan simulated blockade and landing. The recent round reads differently — less signaling, more rehearsals, more taking and holding.
The Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz - LNG Headaches for Asia
The blockade of the Strait of.Hormuz is not a Persian Gulf problem — it is an Asian energy problem with a Gulf trigger, and the exposure is not evenly distributed.