Cast Lines, Crossed Lines: The Politics of China’s Fishing Fleet in Disputed Waters

This chapter represents a detour from the main thread of inquiry in the present volume to consider the instrumentalization of non-state actors in the contemporary maritime strategic landscape by China as it seeks to assert its claim on major parts of the South and East China Seas. First, it introduces in detail the very actors involved and contextualizes their role in terms of the fundamental tenets of China’s grand strategy. This lays the groundwork for a much broader discussion of the implications of the activities of China’s “little blue men” (not entirely unlike Russia’s “little green men” as such) for regional and global international affairs, the rules-based maritime order, and the security of key trade routes and global supply chains.