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........

© The Frontier Post (Editorial)