War Zone – The appearance of the Chinese catamaran fast-attack missile craft adds a significant new player to these disputed waters.

1945 – A common refrain in these pixels is that strategic competition is an armed debate in which debaters—great powers, usually—flourish implements of war in an impressive way to mold opinion among audiences that matter. Positioning oneself as the stronger contender in the minds of influential observers helps cow opponents give heart to allies and partners, win new allies to the cause, and rally the faithful back home.

Global Times – A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft carrier task group was training in the east of Taiwan island as at least 10 PLA warplanes appeared in the west of the island in a routine exercise on Monday, indicating that the island is surrounded from the east with an aircraft carrier task group and by land-based PLA forces on the west.  

CIMSEC – The surge of propaganda notwithstanding, several issues confront Beijing before the maritime militia can effectively function as the third arm in collaboration with the PLAN and Chinese Coast Guard.

War Zone – China’s ability to integrate its carriers with an increasingly advanced strike group continues to evolve, as does its blue water operations ambitions.

US Naval War College Review – The United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission convened a daylong hearing on the global power-projection capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on 20 February 2020. What follows is a version of the testimony with which the author responded to the commission’s questions on Chinese bases and access points, drawing on an original data set of the ninety-five overseas port terminals that Chinese firms—primarily three entities, two of which are central state–owned enterprises—own, operate, or both.

Naval History – The Beiyang Fleet’s resounding defeat in the 1894 Battle of the Yalu River left its mark on Chinese naval thinking to this day.

War on the Rocks – Both Chinese and outside naval experts speculate that the PLAN may have an Indian Ocean fleet in the near future. 

Global Times – The warplane exercise by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) near the island of Taiwan on Friday is not only the largest since the PLA started routine exercises in the region last year, but also a rare one that saw bombers flying to the eastern side of the island. 

South China Morning Post – China has reclaimed land to extend a reef in the Spratly Islands, in the disputed South China Sea, satellite images show.

StrategyPage – In early 2021, five military medical researchers working for the Chinese Institute of Military Health Management published a report in the journal Military Medicine revealing that 108 of 511 submarine crewmen who took a standard mental health assessment survey which revealed they were suffering from mental stress symptoms because of their busy training schedule on Chinese diesel-electric submarines operating in and near the South China Sea.

USNI News – China is gathering data on the undersea environment in the Indian Ocean as evidenced by two government survey ships seen operating in the region via open source satellite photos.

The Guardian – The Philippines’ defence chief has demanded more than 200 Chinese vessels he said were manned by militias leave a South China Sea reef claimed by Manila, saying their presence was a “provocative action of militarising the area.”

Global Times – A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla led by the country’s first 10,000 ton-class Type 055 large destroyer sailed through the Tsushima Strait on Thursday and headed toward the Sea of Japan, a few days after US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers hyped the “China threat” in bilateral “2+2” talks in Tokyo.

China Daily – The People’s Liberation Army Navy has recently commissioned its second Type 055 guided-missile destroyer and named it Lhasa, after the capital of the Tibet autonomous region.

War Zone – The coastal base is right across from Taiwan and even closer to other islands Taiwanese authorities control.

National Interest – James Holmes gives another example of technology turning seafarers’ world upside down.

CIMSEC – The article proceeds in three parts. It begins by analyzing the domestic sources of Chinese grand strategy that influence the PRC’s maritime policies and activities. The next section describes China’s maritime militia and fishing fleets, their strategic purposes, and their strengths and limitations. The final section addresses the challenges these actors pose to U.S. forces, with particular emphasis on the links between force protection and unintended escalation.

National Interest – The Chinese have been heavily investing in amphibious capabilities.

Naval News – China’ second Type 055 Destroyer (NATO reporting name: Renhai-class cruiser) was recently commissioned with the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

CNN – At some point between 2015 and today, China has assembled the world’s largest naval force. And now it’s working to make it formidable far from its shores.

Global Times – A newly commissioned, upgraded variation of the Type 052D destroyer recently made its public debut in a series of maritime exercises by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, and analysts said more warships of this class are expected to join the service soon.

War on the Rocks – Taiwan is becoming the most dangerous flashpoint in the world. Events in and involving the small democracy could spark a war that draws in the United States, China, Japan, and possibly others. The administration of President Joe Biden should develop a more credible U.S. strategy to deter such a war.

Global Times – While Chinese people mourn the four martyrs killed in the June 2020 border conflict with Indian troops at Galwan Valley, Japanese media made a “wild and groundless” guess that a similar conflict is very likely to be provoked in the sea with Japan next time, referring to China’s Diaoyu Islands, where the two countries have had a long sovereignty dispute. 

South China Morning Post – There are stronger signs that China’s next aircraft carrier will be fitted with an advanced type of aircraft launch system, with official confirmation of a test flight of a carrier-based early warning plane.