HMM:
The New York Times speculates the ships might be used as nautical human shields to screen an invasion.
"In a conflict or crisis, for instance over Taiwan, China could mobilize tens of thousands of civilian ships, including fishing boats, to clog sea lanes and complicate military…
— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) March 13, 2026
Whatever is going on here, China displays much more operational imagination than the West seems to give them credit for.