Hybrid CoE Paper 31 For years, China has used its navy, coast guard, and maritime militia across the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the East China Sea to assert its claims to sovereignty over disputed territories. This Hybrid CoE Paper analyzes how China uses these military, paramilitary, and pseudo-civilian entities within the legal grey zone for hybrid threat purposes, projecting power below the threshold of war.
The paper argues that by using its so-called three navies to exploit the grey zone between war and peace, China engages in lawfare, ensuring that its provocations remain below the threshold of armed conflict.
The paper concludes that it is crucial for democracies to understand how Beijing exploits international norms to achieve a strategic advantage over its adversaries. Countermeasures should include officially recognizing the military nature of China’s ostensibly civilian coast guard and maritime militia.
