China’s naval expansion reflects global militarisation of maritime tech—rooted in US-led arms races and resource competition
Original framing: “Is China building a fleet of drone motherships to extend its naval reach?” — South China Morning Post
Fisherfolk in the South China Sea, such as those in Vietnam’s *Bến Tre* province, report increased harassment by Chinese coast guard vessels—yet their testimonies are absent from the *SCMP*’s coverage. A 2022 *Human Rights Watch* report documented how militarised patrols displace Indigenous *Moken* communities in Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago, forcing them into deeper waters where drone surveillance is more effective. Women-led maritime cooperatives in the Philippines, like *Kababayan*, advocate for demilitarised fishing zones but are excluded from geopolitical discussions. The narrative’s focus on ‘motherships’ silences these voices, centring state actors over the communities most affected by naval escalation.
The *South China Morning Post*’s framing of China’s drone motherships as a unilateral threat obscures a systemic feedback loop where US-led containment strategies, corporate militarisation, and climate-induced resource scrambles create the conditions for naval escalation.
Historical parallels—from Cold War submarine races to colonial-era maritime laws—reveal that today’s tensions are not an aberration but the logical outcome of a 70-year cycle of oceanic militarisation, one that prioritises state control over Indigenous stewardship or ecological integrity. The trickster lens exposes the absurdity of two nuclear powers competing over underwater drones while ignoring the *real* mothership: the defence-industrial complex that profits from endless arms races. Solutions must move beyond geopolitical posturing to centre Indigenous governance (e.g., Māori *taonga* protection), repurpose military tech for climate adaptation, and enforce demilitarised corridors—approaches that address the root causes of conflict while restoring the ocean’s role as a space for cooperation, not domination.