Well this is all sorts of interesting in a butt-clenching sort of way:
The head of the U.S. Navy warned China that its coast guard and maritime militia will be treated in the same way as the nation’s navy in the South China Sea, the Financial Times reported, citing an interview.
China is increasingly relying on non-naval ships to assert its claims in the region, blurring the line between its military and coast guard, which has complicated U.S. efforts in the past few years, according to the report. China considers at least 80 percent of the South China Sea to be its sovereign territory, a claim disputed by other regional powers.
If the Chinese try to use their naval militia to ram our foul the propellers of our warships engaged in freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait, we won't rule out more forceful means of repelling them, I assume.
UPDATE: About that naval militia masquerading as fishing boats:
All the evidence is that the Chinese ships are elements of the People’s Liberation Army’s Maritime Militia, which studies by the United States Naval War College estimate to include well over 300 vessels and close to 4,000 personnel, though that is probably a major underestimation.
These units are made up of civilian fishermen who receive regular military training and pay while they are under the command of the navy. Their ships are usually not armed, though some are.
However, the ships have reinforced bows to enable them to ram other ships, and are equipped with high-powered water hoses, which are an effective weapon against the crews of other small ships. Most also have sophisticated communications equipment both for espionage operations, and so they can be easily marshaled and deployed while under military command.
Better-armed coast guards need to start arresting those crews and charging them as pirates before they back off.
UPDATE: From the recent press conference on the new annual report on Chinese military capabilities:
We -- we're less interested in the color of the hull than the activity and the actions. So what we're most interested in is China behaving in a manner that's respectful of international law and norms, and behaving in a manner that is not destabilizing and is more constructive. So we're less interested -- again, if its coast guard and maritime militia or classic gray-hulled navy, if the design is to infringe upon the sovereignty of another country, to provoke -- to -- in -- in the -- with the objective of creating some sort of tension that results in a favorable outcome for them, any of that is -- is more concerning than the color of the hull.
China wants the effects of naval power without using formal naval power. We now dismiss the formal distinction between the forms of Chinese naval power.
