Justin Chock, a Summer 2015 researcher at the East-West Center in Washington, explains that "[China's] growing civilian merchant marine and fishing fleets are more likely to be deployed before military units since they greatly enhance surveillance, logistics, and even physical defense capabilities with less risk of conflict escalation. As a result, these non-military maritime fleets deserve greater attention within the study of China's maritime capacities and interests."

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the East-West Center or any organization with which the author is affiliated.