Dozens of China's Paramilitary Boats Occupying Disputed Territory—Pictures

New satellite photos this week showed Chinese maritime militia ships massed around a disputed territory in the South China Sea, one week after the Philippines said an estimated 135 of the vessels were "swarming" the area.

China and the Philippines both claim the otherwise unoccupied reef, called Whitsun, although it is located within the latter's internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, giving Manila a sovereign right to exploit the area's resources.

Photographs from December 10 and released Tuesday by the satellite image provider SkyFi revealed what it said were more than 75 Chinese militia boats tied together near the reef.

1 of 2

China's maritime militia is a fleet of purpose-built ships used alongside the country's People's Liberation Army Navy and the China Coast Guard. Beijing does not formally acknowledge the paramilitary force's existence and claims it comprises patriotic fishermen.

The militia's unofficial nature gives Beijing plausible deniability when the ships enter contentious territory. Observers believe the Chinese government is using the fishing boats to assert de facto control over contested areas in the South China Sea, including in the Spratly Islands archipelago where Whitsun Reef lies.

The U.S. State Department has accused the fleet of engaging in unsafe and aggressive actions. Some of its boats were recently filmed engaging in standoffs at nearby Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, whose ownership remains disputed between Manila and Beijing.

SkyFi's photos showed many of the Chinese ships apparently at anchor off the V-shaped reef and lashed together—a tactic known as "rafting."

Rafting is a "gray zone tactic of tying ships together at anchor to establish semi-persistent floating outposts that are difficult disperse due to their collective mass," Stanford analyst Gaute Friis said in a July report published by the university's SeaLight project.

The Philippine Navy said previously that the number of militia boats at Whitsun Reef had fallen to 28 by December 6. They appeared to return to the territory by last weekend.

"Mostly what China is trying to do is, over the years, get everyone accustomed to the idea that China is here and you can't get rid of them. The idea being they will slowly expand their scope and reach to the edges of their nine-line claim and almost up to the coastline of their neighbors," SeaLight Director Ray Powell told SkyFi.

China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment.

The Philippine Coast Guard, which has been watching the buildup for years, said the Chinese ships ignored the radio challenges of its patrol boats sent to document their "illegal presence."

Whitsun Reef is situated about 750 miles from Hainan, the nearest Chinese province. It is one of some 200 Spratly Islands claimed by China as part of its historical territory, putting it at odds with fellow claimants Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, in addition to the Philippines.

Responding to a question earlier this month about the presence of China's maritime militia at the reef, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the fishing boats were legally seeking shelter from adverse weather within Chinese waters.

Long-time observers of the paramilitary fleet say the boats, although described by Beijing as fishing vessels, are virtually uncrewed and often remarkably clean.