China is engaged in a campaign to take control of large portions of the South China Sea, including significant portions of the exclusive economic zones of other countries, by conducting various gray zone operations that have allowed China to exert control over the region while avoiding a conventional military response from the United States and its allies and partners. China's use of various gray zone tactics to assert its territorial claims and achieve its political agenda includes maritime aggression, cyber operations, economic coercion, and online propaganda. As a matter of policy, China views these actions as a continuation of politics rather than warfare, and China's efforts are purposefully designed to be below the threshold of war.

The authors identify approaches for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and other elements of the U.S. military to counter and deter Chinese maritime gray zone operations. The authors focus on approaches that encompass presence operations, transparency initiatives that publicize malign Chinese behaviors, efforts to spur U.S. partners and allies to help counter China's gray zone effort, and the use of non-lethal weapons to directly confront and deter China's aggressive behaviors. To conduct this study, the authors conducted an in-depth literature review of China's maritime gray zone operations, hosted an online forum of gray zone and China experts to discuss potential counter strategies, and conducted interviews with more than 45 experts from the USINDOPACOM and its subordinate service components and others in the defense community.