The United States should issue letters of marque to fight Chinese aggression at sea.

[soryang]

Unleash the Privateers!
The United States should issue letters of marque to fight Chinese aggression at sea.
By Colonel Mark Cancian, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired) and Brandon Schwartz
April 2020 Proceedings

Naval strategists are struggling to find ways to counter a rising Chinese Navy. The easiest and most comfortable course is to ask for more ships and aircraft, but with a defense budget that may have reached its peak, that may not be a viable strategy. Privateering, authorized by letters of marque, could offer a low-cost tool to enhance deterrence in peacetime and gain advantage in wartime. It would attack an asymmetric vulnerability of China, which has a much larger merchant fleet than the United States. Indeed, an attack on Chinese global trade would undermine China’s entire economy and threaten the regime’s stability. Finally, despite pervasive myths to the contrary, U.S. privateering is not prohibited by U.S. or international law.

"Privateers do not need to be heavily armed, because they would be taking on lightly (or un-) armed merchant vessels, choosing vulnerable targets, or acting cooperatively with other privateers."

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/april/unleash-privateers

Another crackpot idea from the ultra conservative CSIS. This is right up there with, "unleash Chiang Kai-shek!" and other China delusions.

[rzemanfl]

1. WTAF? We're supposed to get parts for computers and medicine from pirates?

On second thought, as to medicine, we already do.