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

By Anika Seth and Daniel Kiss

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.

For more than a decade, China has deployed fishing boats and coast-guard vessels deeper into contested waters across Asia.

Chinese officials often claim that these fleets are normal fishing boats. Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said that China’s navy, coast guard and fishing boats operate “in strict accordance” with domestic and international law.

“Their intention is to use these dual-use vessels as irregular warfare to control the waters,” said Jason Wang, ingeniSPACE’s chief operating officer.

The strategy poses a growing challenge for the U.S. in the Pacific, as the Trump administration stretches military resources across the Middle East, Latin America and the world.

Even as both countries’ leaders met this week in Beijing, China’s vast fleets remain a signal to its neighbors—and Washington—that Beijing can complicate U.S. and allied naval operations and military planning across the region.

To read the rest of the article, you can find the Wall Street Journal article here: