Compass Points - Pacific Mysteries
China still a danger
Compass Points - Pacific Mysteries
China still a danger
April 7, 2026
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The Commander-in-Chief calls it the ‘Easter Miracle.’
When the US F15 Strike Eagle was shot down by Iran, both aircrew ejected safely. The pilot was rescued late Friday. The rescue of the WSO grew into a massive operation that succeeded in the early hours of Easter morning.
Now, as the US celebrates, Operation Epic Fury continues. The President has placed a one-day deadline on Iran.
As busy as the US is in the Middle East, the rest of the world continues to present a variety of threats and challenges. Russia and Ukraine are still fighting. Cuba continues its precipitous decline. And in the Western Pacific, China is generating one mystery after another.
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-- Ships in a square
-- NOTAM warning
-- New Spratly base
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First, thousands of Chinese fishing vessels in the Pacific are forming themselves into ridged positions in the open sea.
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. . . thousands of commercial fishing boats lining up in an impossibly vast naval formation.
The bizarre constellations were first sighted in December, where more than 2,000 small ships formed up to create two inverted-L arrangements off the coast of Shanghai.
The boats came together a again just a few weeks later in January, where some 1,000 fishing vessels formed a rectangle stretching around 240 nautical miles. That wall of boats was so dense that some incoming cargo ships were forced to take unorthodox maneuvers to zig-zag through the maze, the New York Times reported.
. . . The strange formations have raised the eyebrows of plenty of China hawks in the US, who argue that the People’s Republic is running de-facto naval drills with civilian vessels — likely in preparation for a confrontation with Chinese Taipei, otherwise known as Taiwan.
“The sight of that many vessels operating in concert is staggering,” Mark Douglas, an analyst at Maritime Intelligence firm Starboard told the NYT. “The level of coordination to get that many vessels into a formation like this is significant.”
-- Futurism - ‘Thousands of Chinese Ships Form Strange Pattern in Ocean’
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In another unexplained action, China has issued a strange NOTAM warning to foreign aircraft.
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TAIPEI—China has taken the unusual step of reserving swaths of offshore airspace without explanation for a period of 40 days, issuing alerts similar to those used to warn aviation authorities of Chinese military exercises, which typically last no more than a few days.
Beijing hasn’t declared any exercises in the area—which is hundreds of miles away from Taiwan’s main island—sparking a new aviation mystery following an unexplained pause in military flights around the self-governing island.
-- MSN
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Finally, after years without significant new construction, China has suddenly started building a new base in the contested Spratly Islands off the coast of the Philippines.
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Satellite imagery analyzed by Washington, D.C.-based think tanks reveals that China is constructing a high-tech radar installation on Cuarteron Reef, part of the contested Spratly Islands chain in the South China Sea. This development coincides with Beijing’s aggressive land reclamation efforts, which have already added roughly 3,000 acres of artificial territory to the region. The move signals a renewed push by China to militarize disputed waters, further escalating tensions with neighboring nations and drawing sharp criticism from the United States.
China’s latest construction activities suggest a strategic expansion beyond mere territorial claims—they are reinforcing their military dominance in a region critical to global trade and potential future conflicts, particularly concerning Taiwan. The installation of high-frequency (HF) radar systems enhances Beijing’s surveillance capabilities, allowing it to monitor maritime and aerial movements far beyond its shores.
-- News Target
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In the Pacific, China’s fishing fleet is marching in formation. China has also reserved airspace in the region without explanation for 40 days. And China has also begun more construction in the disputed South China Sea.
What does it all mean? It means China continues to be a dangerous mystery. Some of what China does is unknown and unknowable.
What is knowable is that no matter what else is going on in the world, the US must maintain credible deterrent power in the Pacific. It is not enough for the US to say there are B-2 Spirit bombers stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The US needs a flexible crisis response force loaded on Navy amphibious ships always on patrol in the Pacific to reassure allies and deter adversaries. When China takes any mysterious action in the Pacific, local nations friendly to the US should be confident that US Marines on amphibious ships are in the area and will be quick to arrive to deter, assist, rescue, strike, and fight.
Compass Points salutes the US military for the rescue of the F15 crew downed in Iran that has astounded the world, and also salutes all the US military around the globe holding the line.
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Futurism - 03/17/2026
Thousands of Chinese Ships Form Strange Pattern in Ocean
By Joe Wilkins
https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/china-fishing-boats
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MSN
China creates new aviation mystery with offshore warning zones
Story by Joyu Wang
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News Target - 04/06/2026
China accelerates military expansion in South China Sea with new high-tech radar and island-building campaign
By Patrick Lewis
https://www.newstarget.com/2026-04-06-china-accelerates-military-expansion-south-china-sea.html
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Summary of PRC PLAN and Constructed/fortified islands..Grok:PRC PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy) Summary – All Key Elements**
The PLAN is the naval arm of China's People's Liberation Army and the world's largest navy by number of ships (approximately 370–400+ hulls). It has around 384,000 active personnel, including ~55,000 marines and ~50,000 naval aviation personnel. It is organized under the Central Military Commission and divided into three theater navies: Northern, Eastern, and Southern.
### Core Branches
- Surface Force (destroyers, frigates, corvettes, amphibious ships)
- Submarine Force (nuclear and conventional)
- Naval Air Force (~600 aircraft)
- Marine Corps (~55,000 troops for amphibious operations)
- Coastal Defense Force (shore-based missiles and artillery)
### Major Platforms
- **Aircraft Carriers**: 3 in service (Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian/Type 003 with electromagnetic catapults); more under construction including potential nuclear-powered ships.
- **Amphibious Ships**: Multiple Type 075/076 LHDs, Type 071 LPDs, and numerous landing ships.
- **Destroyers**: 60+ modern ships (Type 055 large multi-mission destroyers with 112–128 VLS cells; Type 052D series).
- **Frigates**: ~50–60 (Type 054A/B for escort and anti-submarine warfare).
- **Corvettes/Missile Boats**: ~75 corvettes (Type 056 series) and many smaller missile boats.
- **Submarines**: ~70 total (~6–8 Jin-class SSBNs, Shang-class SSNs, and ~50+ advanced conventional submarines with air-independent propulsion).
The fleet emphasizes anti-ship missiles, vertical launch systems, and integrated air defense, with rapid expansion toward blue-water capabilities.
### Reserve Forces
The PLAN maintains dedicated reserve units focused on reconnaissance, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare, radar, and limited ship squadrons. These reserves are being reformed for faster integration and mobilization with active forces to support logistics, coastal defense, and wartime augmentation.
### Masquerading Fishing Fleet – China Maritime Militia (CMM)
This is a gray-zone force of ostensibly civilian fishing vessels organized as an armed auxiliary of the PLA. It includes tens of thousands of fishing boats, with hundreds to thousands actively serving as militia (including professional "backbone" units).
Key features:
- Appear as normal fishing boats but operate in coordinated swarms to harass, swarm, and assert presence in disputed waters.
- Many vessels have **ram-reinforced bows and strengthened steel hulls** designed for deliberate ramming or "bumping" of foreign ships.
- Equipped with advanced communications, radar, and sometimes jamming gear.
- Used for surveillance, reconnaissance, physical coercion, and creating "facts on the water" without triggering full military response.
- Operate jointly with the China Coast Guard (CCG) and PLAN for "three maritime forces" operations, especially in the South China Sea (e.g., around Scarborough Shoal or Second Thomas Shoal).
- In wartime, they can serve as decoys, screen forces, logistics support, or disrupt enemy operations.
### Artificial Reef / Island Military Installations
China has built large-scale artificial islands by reclaiming land on reefs and atolls, primarily in the **Spratly** and **Paracel Islands** of the South China Sea. Over 3,200 acres of new land created, turning tiny features into permanent dual-use military bases ("unsinkable aircraft carriers").
Key elements:
- Major outposts include Mischief Reef, Subi Reef, Fiery Cross Reef (with long runways, deep-water harbors for warships, hardened hangars for fighters and bombers, radar, surface-to-air missiles, and anti-ship cruise missiles).
- Infrastructure: Airstrips suitable for fighters/bombers, deep-water piers, fuel/ammunition storage, SAM systems (e.g., HQ-9), anti-ship missiles, and troop facilities.
- Strategic role: Extend sensor and missile coverage across the South China Sea, support persistent presence of PLAN, CCG, and Maritime Militia, enable rapid deployment of aircraft and ships, and strengthen territorial claims.
- These bases enhance anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities and complicate freedom of navigation operations.
### Overall Integration
The PLAN, its reserves, the China Maritime Militia with ram-reinforced fishing vessels, the China Coast Guard, and the artificial island bases form a layered system for gray-zone coercion in peacetime and full military operations in conflict. The strategy combines numerical superiority, rapid modernization, civil-military fusion, and forward-deployed infrastructure to project power, especially in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, while expanding toward far-seas operations.
This creates a comprehensive "active defense" network that blurs the lines between civilian and military forces.
Grok Expert:PLAN EXERCISE Recent PRC Maritime Militia Exercises – L-Shaped Formations and Sea Blockades (December 2025–January 2026)**
In two large-scale operations, China mobilized its **China Maritime Militia** (masquerading fishing fleet) in the East China Sea, northeast of Taiwan, in waters off Ningbo near Japan's exclusive economic zone/median line. These were widely assessed by military and maritime experts as coordinated at-sea mobilization exercises and rehearsals for maritime blockade or quarantine tactics, particularly in a Taiwan contingency scenario.
**December 23–26, 2025 (main formation on Christmas Day):**
Approximately 1,700–2,000+ Chinese fishing vessels converged and assembled into two adjacent reverse L-shaped (inverted L) patterns consisting of long parallel lines. Each leg of the formation stretched roughly 290–470 km (hundreds of miles), creating vast floating barriers or "wall-like" structures that effectively blocked off enormous plots of sea across hundreds of square kilometers. The vessels maintained tight, precise, military-style coordination with no visible fishing activity or gear deployed. They held stationary positions in continuous linked lines for more than 30 hours before dispersing. Cargo ships in the area were forced to reroute, skirt around the dense formations, or zigzag through them.
**January 9–12, 2026 (second formation on/around January 11):**
A follow-on operation involved approximately 1,400–1,500 vessels (some reports cite ~1,000–1,200) that assembled into a dense rectangular or similar geometric formation stretching over 200 miles (~300+ km). The vessels again held precise positions for extended periods (more than 30 hours in related activity), with the same tight coordination and lack of fishing behavior. Cargo ships were again required to maneuver around or through the barrier.
**Key Tactical Elements Demonstrated:**
- Precise geometric L-shaped and parallel-line arrangements forming effective "floating walls" or sea-denial barriers far larger than the 40+ km plots referenced, with the ability to seal off wide maritime areas.
- High-level command-and-control, navigation, and communications technology enabling rapid convergence, station-keeping, and coordinated movement by ostensibly civilian boats.
- Complete cessation of normal fishing operations, confirming paramilitary behavior consistent with trained maritime militia units (many vessels identified as known militia assets).
These exercises operated under the "three maritime forces" concept (integrating with PLAN and China Coast Guard) and showcased the militia's evolution from smaller South China Sea swarming/harassment tactics to unprecedented large-scale, scalable blockade and sea-control capabilities. The operations occurred amid heightened regional tensions, including concurrent PLAN naval exercises around Taiwan ("Justice Mission 2025").
Experts described them as rehearsals for gray-zone operations to impose sea denial, control shipping lanes, disrupt trade routes, or support isolation of Taiwan without immediate overt use of warships—providing plausible deniability while complicating adversary responses. The scale, discipline, and location raised alarms in Japan, Taiwan, and among Indo-Pacific partners, highlighting improved militia organization and civil-military fusion for potential wartime roles in screening, decoys, logistics, or augmenting blockades.
No public PRC acknowledgment framed the activity as formal exercises, but the coordination and timing strongly indicate deliberate training of the maritime militia as an integrated element of broader PLAN strategy.