Chinese coastguard has 0.3% chance of using weapons in disputed waters, war game suggests

A Chinese coastguard ship is shielding a cluster of fishing boats when several small, fast vessels begin circling – sometimes darting closer, sometimes backing off. Are they just curious fishermen? Or are they probing for a weak spot, trying to lure the patrol ship into a trap?In the real world, a split-second decision could escalate a tense maritime stand-off into something far more dangerous. This is exactly the kind of nerve‑wracking scenario Chinese coastguard researchers have been running inside a computer war game.Their findings, published this month, revealed a surprising number: under the existing rule‑based command system, the simulated Chinese coastguard would resort to lethal weapons only 0.3 per cent of the time.