Maritime security analysts say the Chinese are using fishing fleets and armed civilian forces to strengthen control in the South China Sea. Beijing and several countries in the region have overlapping claims over islands in the resource-rich area.
Tanmen, China – We had come to this fishing village on Hainan Island, China’s southernmost province, because it’s home to one of the country’s best-known maritime militias – the Tanmen Maritime Militia Company.
Its recruits are mostly men from the fishing community. They are given basic military training, and their activities, according to the Hainan Daily, include “collecting maritime information … and contributing to sovereignty defence in the South China Sea”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping cited the Tanmen Maritime Militia as the model for maritime militia building, and honoured them with a visit in 2013. But while they may be celebrated in local media, we soon found out filming the Tanmen Maritime Militia was not so straightforward.