{{Short description|Chinese naval tactic}} '''Cabbage tactics''' are a naval swarming practice used by China to encircle, blockade and seize control of islands and shoals, most notably during territorial disputes in the South China Sea in the 21st century. Instead of a direct amphibious invasion, the targeted island is surrounded by successive maritime patrol lines consisting of People's Liberation Army Navy surface ships and patrol aircraft, China Coast Guard and Maritime Militia patrol vessels, and even fishing fleets. The pattern of blockade is similar to a siege investment in land warfare, and has been figuratively compared with the alternating layers of leaves wrapping around a cabbage's core/stem, hence the name.
The practice is considered a "grey-zone" tactic whose purpose is to screen and interdict maritime transport to and from the island, effectively isolating the island from outside contacts and cutting off its reinforcements and logistical support.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Konishi |first1=Weston S. |title=China's Maritime Challenge in the South China Sea: Options for US Responses |journal=Chicago Council on Global Affairs |date=2018 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17324 |access-date=24 December 2021}}</ref> Once any prior occupants of the island all had to withdraw due to logistical depletion, the blockading forces can then land and claim the abandoned island unchallenged, all while maintaining ''de jure'' peace and avoiding the casualty and diplomatic fallout of an open conflict.
== Definition == The term "cabbage tactics" was first coined by now-retired military theorist Zhang Zhaozhong, who was a rear admiral of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and a doctoral advisor at the National Defense University. According to ''The New York Times Magazine'', Zhang Zhaozhong "described a 'cabbage strategy', which entails surrounding a contested area with so many boats — fishermen, fishing administration ships, marine surveillance ships, navy warships — that 'the island is thus wrapped layer by layer like a cabbage'."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Himmelman |first1=Jeff |title=A Game of Shark and Minnow |work=The New York Times |date=24 October 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/27/south-china-sea/index.html |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref> It is a tactic to overwhelm and seize control of an island without actually assaulting it, instead by surrounding and wrapping the island in successive lines of naval ships, patrol vessels and fishing boats, as well as patrol aircraft and drones.<ref name="FP">{{cite news |last= Santoro|first= David|date=16 September 2019|title=Beijing's South China Sea Aggression Is a Warning to Taiwan|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/china-invokes-cabbage-tactics-in-south-china-sea/63892| newspaper=Foreign Policy}}</ref><ref name="Philstar">{{cite news |last= Pascual Jr|first= Federico D.|date=11 April 2019|title=China's swarming: 'Cabbage strategy'|url=https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/04/11/1909011/chinas-swarming-cabbage-strategy| newspaper=Philstar}}</ref> It has also been called small-stick diplomacy.<ref name= "Kazianis 2013" >{{cite web |last1=Kazianis |first1=Harry |title=China's Expanding Cabbage Strategy |url=https://thediplomat.com/2013/10/chinas-expanding-cabbage-strategy/ |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>
Ahmet Goncu, an associate professor at China's Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, stated: "Whenever there is a conflicted small island, the Chinese military and paramilitary forces are sent to overwhelm the islands and lay siege to the surrounding islands with military ships, fishing boats along with other kinds of paramilitary vessels." The layers of Chinese vessels block the entry or exit of any other country's navies, thus effectively isolating the island and bringing it under Chinese control.<ref name="AA">{{cite news |last= Erdogan|first= Huseyin|date=25 March 2015|title=China invokes 'cabbage tactics' in South China Sea|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/china-invokes-cabbage-tactics-in-south-china-sea/63892| newspaper=Anadolu Agency}}</ref> The strategy also involves the People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia, which includes fishermen, serving as a first line of defense.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Andersen |first1=Bobby |url=https://ciao-test.cdrs.columbia.edu/catalog?f%5Bauthor%5D%5B%5D=Charles+Perry&f%5Bcontent_type%5D%5B%5D=Special+Report&f%5Blocation%5D%5B%5D=South+China&f%5Bpub_date%5D%5B%5D=years_10&per_page=10&search_field=all_fields&searched=yes&sort=year |title=Weighing the Consequences of China's Control Over the South China Sea |last2=Perry |first2=Charles |publisher=Institute of Foreign Policy Analysis |year=2017 |isbn= |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=22}}</ref> The goal of cabbage tactics is to create a layered envelopment of the target.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chan |first1=Eric |title=Escalating Clarity without Fighting: Countering Gray Zone Warfare against Taiwan (Part 2) |url=https://globaltaiwan.org/2021/06/vol-6-issue-11/ |website=globaltaiwan.org |publisher=The Global Taiwan Institute |access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref>
==History==
Examples of Chinese cabbage tactics include the swarming of contested islands in the South China Sea, which also entailed the construction of artificial islands, and the occupation of disputed areas along the Sino-Indian border.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Rakesh |url=https://ojs.indrastra.com/index.php/clawsjournal/issue/view/3 |title=CLAWS Journal: Vol. 12 No. 2 (2019): Winter 2019 |last2=Ahluwalia |first2=V. K. |last3=Nagal |first3=Balraj Singh |last4=Kapoor |first4=Rajeev |last5=Chakravorty |first5=P. K. |last6=Jash |first6=Amrita |last7=Semwal |first7=Pradeep |last8=Yadav |first8=Kunendra Singh |last9=Singh |first9=Manjari |publisher=IndraStra Global e-Journal Hosting Services |year=2019 |isbn= |location=New Delhi |pages=87 |language=en}}</ref> Cabbage tactics has also been used to intimidate military vessels. For instance, in 2009 the United States Navy survey ship USNS ''Impeccable'' encountered cabbage tactics from Chinese maritime forces.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roy|first=Nalanda|title=Navigating Uncertainty In The South China Sea Disputes: Interdisciplinary Perspectives|publisher=World Scientific|year=2020|isbn=978-1-78634-927-9|location=Singapore|pages=40}}</ref> In 2013, ''The New York Times Magazine'' published a multimedia feature piece exploring the South China Sea that covered the concept of cabbage tactics in depth.<ref name= "Kazianis 2013" />
== Usage == The usage of this tactic has been seen at: * Scarborough Reef in the South China Sea from Philippines in 2012<ref name="AA"/> * Ayungin Island in the Spratlys also from Philippines in 2013<ref name="AA"/> * Vietnam's claimed EEZ was encroached by installing a CNOOC oil rig<ref name="CIMSEC">{{cite web |last= |first= |date= 29 October 2014|title=A Feast Of Cabbage And Salami: Part I – The Vocabulary Of Asian Maritime Disputes|url=http://cimsec.org/feast-cabbage-salami-part-vocabulary-asian-maritime-disputes/13441|publisher=Centre for International Maritime Security|access-date=29 September 2020}}</ref> * Pagasa Island in the South China Sea in 2019.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |last= Jakhar|first= Pratik|date=15 April 2019|title=Analysis: What's so fishy about China's 'maritime militia'?|url=https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c200r2cr| newspaper=BBC}}</ref><ref name="Philstar"/>
== See also == * China's salami slicing * Grey-zone (international relations) * Hybrid warfare
== References == {{reflist}} {{People's Liberation Army | state = collapsed }}
Category:Naval warfare tactics Category:People's Liberation Army Navy Category:China–Philippines relations Category:China–Vietnam relations Category:Metaphors referring to food and drink Category:Territorial disputes of China