Oceanic Barrier Systems: Barrier Concepts for War and Competition in the Pacific

Summary

The episode examines China’s recent deployment of 1,000‑2,000 fishing vessels to create a 400‑kilometre maritime barrier near Taiwan and Japan, interpreting it as a rehearsal for civilian‑ship‑based anti‑access tactics. It links this maneuver to broader PLA strategies that repurpose civilian cargo and fishing fleets as missile, torpedo, and sensor decoys, and explores the possibility that China will evolve these formations into oceanic drone walls similar to Ukraine’s aerial and maritime drone barriers. Experts Thomas Shugart and Michal Dahm provide analysis of China’s whole‑of‑nation warfighting approach, while the discussion also draws parallels with Ukraine’s successful use of unmanned systems to deny Russian naval access in the Black Sea.