Pentagon report: deployment of Chinese ships, maritime militia vessels part of nuclear force expansion in WPS
Beijing has continued to “advance its illegal maritime claims” in the heavily disputed South China Sea by deploying its warships, coast guard vessels, and maritime militia vessels, as it expands its nuclear force, according to the Pentagon.
In its 2024 China Military Power Report released this month and submitted to the U.S. Congress, Pentagon said tensions between Manila and Beijing in the disputed South China Sea (SCS), which includes the West Philippine Sea, were “notably higher” in 2023, citing incidents of Chinese forces ramming and boarding Philippine vessels during rotation and resupply missions.
The Pentagon said Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels were “very active” in the disputed sea, citing that their operations have been “enabled by the increased funding” from the Chinese government.
According to the report, Beijing has continued to use “coercive tactics” in the SCS “to enforce its illegal claims.”
Beijing’s “maritime forces took unsafe and unprofessional measures, including ramming and forcibly boarding Philippine vessels en route to resupplying a Philippine outpost on Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal), it said.
But it pointed out that China “does so in ways calculated to remain below the threshold of provoking conflict.”
Since early 2018, Chinese-occupied Spratly Islands outposts have been “equipped with advanced anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems and military jamming equipment, representing the most capable land-based weapons systems deployed by any claimant in the disputed SCS areas to date,” Pentagon said.
It also said that China has added more than 3,200 acres of land to the seven features it occupies in the Spratlys and has added military infrastructure, including 72 aircraft hangars, docks, satellite communication equipment, antenna array, radars, and hardened shelters for missile platforms.
According to the Pentagon, the deployment of warships and CCG vessels was also in response to oil and gas exploration operations by rival claimants in the disputed sea.
The Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where about $3 trillion of trade passes annually.
Chinese maritime militia
The Pentagon report also said that Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels were “very active” in the disputed sea, citing that in 2023, the number of CMM vessels in and around the SCS increased by approximately 35 percent, with an average of 195 vessels observed per day.
The Pentagon said that the operations of the CMM in the South China Sea have been “enabled by the increased funding” from the Chinese government “to improve their maritime capabilities and grow their ranks of personnel.”
It pointed out that the CMM, the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) have been able to sustain their operations in the SCS with new facilities in the Paracel and Spratly Islands.
“The PLAN and CCG provide training and conduct joint exercises with the CMM to prepare for wartime missions, such as mobilization and logistics, reconnaissance, and safeguarding maritime claims,” it said.
The PLA, according to the Pentagon, has trained with foreign military partners, conducting at least 19 bilateral and multinational exercises—many with Southeast Asian countries in 2023, including naval drills, counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance, and live-fires.
It pointed out that China’s military engagement with Southeast Asian countries enables them “to promote itself as a regional partner and provides the opportunity for the PLA to observe the military capabilities of its neighbors.”
China’s open seas protection
It said that PLAN’s evolving focus from “offshore defense” to “open seas protection” reflects the PLA’s interest in conducting operations beyond China and its immediate periphery.
The Pentagon also said that Beijing’s nuclear warheads have increased from more than 500 to over 600 in 2024 and could reach up to 1,000 by 2030.
“The PLA is aggressively developing capabilities to provide options for the PRC to dissuade, deter, or, if ordered, defeat third-party intervention in the Asia-Pacific region,” it said.
Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington, Manila’s oldest military and treaty ally in the region, not to interfere in the SCS disputes.
But in its 2024 report, the Pentagon said China “has synchronized official government statements and state media to define US Indo-Pacific alliances as acts of unlawful and destabilizing hegemonic aggression intended to pressure regional countries to support US efforts to contain the PRC (People’s Republic of China).
