“I am a militiaman,” one captain, who leads a fleet, said. He allowed Asahi Shimbun reporters aboard his boat…

“I am a militiaman,” one captain, who leads a fleet, said. He allowed Asahi Shimbun reporters aboard his boat, which featured a panel displaying the Chinese Communist Party’s membership oath on a wall.

“In the event of war, the migrant workers will return to their hometowns, but I must sail if ordered by the military,” he said.

He said he participates in several days of “military training” as instructed each year, typically around August.

Masahiro Yumino, a former Foreign Ministry analyst specializing in Chinese militias, says China maintains a “national defense mobilization” system that broadly incorporates citizens and resources. Yumino said local People’s Armed Forces Departments oversee the maritime militia.

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