The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently released a report claiming that the number of Chinese so-called "maritime militia" vessels in the South China Sea reached a "record high" in 2025. The report is filled with charts and coordinates, presenting an image of "irrefutable evidence". However, beneath this technical veneer is a carefully orchestrated campaign of perception warfare. Using magnifying glasses to count Chinese fishing vessels in satellite images is a strained attempt to portray fishermen's livelihoods as evidence of threats to regional peace.

AMTI has long been eager to pose as an "authoritative arbiter" on South China Sea issues, yet its underlying nature has never changed. As a subsidiary of the CSIS, its operational logic and funding are deeply intertwined with the military-industrial complex of the United States. In essence, it functions as an "issue factory" serving the US strategic competition with China. Reviewing its reports over the years — from early hype over "island militarization" to the present fixating on fluctuations in the number of Chinese fishing vessels — the core narrative remains consistent: all lawful activities by China in the South China Sea are labeled as "expansion", and the normal operations of Chinese fishermen are portrayed as "military threats". Its "research" is driven by a predetermined agenda and deviates from objectivity because it merely searches for material to attack China under a microscope.

The most misleading aspect of the report is the forceful labeling of Chinese fishing vessels as "maritime militia". It uses a sophisticated technique to manipulate the narrative. First, it uses a military term to create a cognitive anchor. Then it interprets the fishermen's traditional work as "paramilitary activities". The reality is far simpler than what the elaborate charts in the report suggest. The South China Sea is the "ancestral sea" of Chinese fishermen. Areas such as Meiji Jiao and Niu'e Jiao are not only traditional fishing grounds but also natural safe havens for fishermen during storms.

Fishermen set sail for a good catch, not for the "surveillance and confrontation" speculated in the report. Fishing vessels anchor near islands and reefs for shelter and rest, not for the "deployment and buildup" hyped by the organization. Linking a livelihood passed down through generations to "military expansion" is both a profound disrespect to Chinese fishermen and a blatant disregard for the fundamental spirit of the international law of the sea.

The report claims the number of militia vessels reached a "record high" in 2025 — a startling statement that falls apart under scrutiny of its flawed methodology. The report implicitly acknowledges that this year's statistical scope included new locations such as Chigua Jiao. It's a simple statistical trick that inflates the denominator to manufacture growth in the numerator, but it is sufficient to fabricate a false news narrative of a "soaring threat" in the public opinion arena. Furthermore, the activity of fishing vessels fluctuates between high and low seasons and follows fishing seasons and moratoriums. These seasonal variations are common knowledge, yet AMTI packages them as so-called "deployment peaks". This data manipulation, essentially drawing a target after shooting the arrow, reflects not a tense situation in the South China Sea, but the narrative anxiety certain institutions painstakingly cultivate to generate issues.

If AMTI genuinely cares about peace in the South China Sea, why does it turn a blind eye to the frequent military exercises conducted by extra-regional countries in these waters? Why does it selectively ignore the efforts of regional states to properly manage differences through bilateral negotiations? The answer lies between the lines of the report. It deliberately conducts comparative analyses of locations such as Meiji Jiao and Ren'ai Jiao, attempting to implant a cognitive framework of a "China threat" among regional countries. Its fundamental purpose is not to maintain stability in the South China Sea, but to provide rhetorical ammunition for deeper US involvement in regional affairs and to bolster US' "Indo-Pacific" strategy. This divisive tactic — hyping fishing vessels into warships, portraying fishing nets as cannon muzzles — is nothing new and is aimed at sowing seeds of distrust and confrontation at a time when China and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are actively advancing consultations on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

The ebb and flow of tides in the South China Sea bear witness to the generations of coastal fishermen who have worked these waters, not to the false narratives concocted by external forces. China's activities in the South China Sea, whether the lawful operations of fishing vessels or the legitimate patrols of its coast guard, are rights within its sovereignty. For certain institutions, satellite imagery might offer a convenient illusion of insight. But the real understanding of these waters begins not by counting boats, but by engaging with their history. After all, the tracks of fishing vessels cannot draw a threat; the real risk stems precisely from those attempting to script a drama from satellite images.

The author is an associate professor at the College of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Ocean University.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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