US Naval Institute Proceedings – Scanning the Horizon for ‘New Historical Missions’

The Chinese Navy is the special beneficiary of its government’s embrace of ‘externalization.’

International Institute for Strategic Studies – Chinese navy’s new strategy in action

The news from Tokyo on 10 April 2010 that the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force had monitored ten Chinese warships passing 140km south of Okinawa through the Miyako Strait marked a new stage in China’s naval development. The deployment was of unprecedented size and scope for the Chinese navy, and was the second such operation mounted by China in rapid succession: in March, a smaller flotilla had been deployed on exercises. The two sets of exercises, along with Chinese counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, demonstrate the flexibility of China’s naval forces and their greater prominence in Beijing’s strategic calculations.

The Diplomat – China Set for Naval Hegemony

The Chinese navy has been throwing its weight around in East Asia. A US Navy commander asks how much longer the US can do anything about it.

The Australian – Beijing bolsters navy with eye on Pacific

China’s navy is modernising and expanding much more rapidly than expected, as Beijing seeks to extend its influence in the South China Sea deep into the Pacific, according to US military officials and analysts.

New York Times – Chinese Military Seeks to Extend Its Naval Power

The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the United States Navy has long reigned as the dominant force, military officials and analysts say.

Mainichi Daily News – Chinese navy movements south of Okinawa leave Japan on edge

A fleet of 10 Chinese navy vessels, including two submarines, were spotted passing through the high seas between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island on Thursday, the Japanese Defense Ministry has announced.

Defense Technology International – Heck Of A Casino You Got There, Admiral Wu

China’s aircraft carrier, the former Soviet Varyag, has left dry dock at Dalian shipyard.

The Diplomat – Why China’s Naval Rise Could Help the World

The upside of the rise of the People’s Liberation Army Navy…

US Naval War College Review – China’s Aircraft Carrier Ambitions An Update

This article will address two major analytical questions. First, what are the necessary and suffi cient conditions for China to acquire aircraft carriers? Second, what are the major implications if China does acquire aircraft carriers?

Christian Science Monitor – China joins multinational naval force to fight Somali piracy

With Somali piracy still posing a severe threat, China agreed Thursday to join the US, Europe, and others in a multilateral naval force. Since late 2008, China has dispatched four flotillas to the Gulf of Aden area, expanding its military activity abroad.

Economist – China’s assertiveness at sea: Choppy Waters

East and south, China makes a splash.

US Naval War College Review – Using the Land to Control the Sea? Chinese Analysts Consider the Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile

For China, the ability to prevent a U.S. carrier strike group from intervening in the event of a Taiwan Strait crisis is critical. Beijing’s immediate strategic concerns have been defi ned with a high level of clarity. The Chinese are interested in achieving an antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) capability because it offers them the prospect of limiting the ability of other nations, particularly the United States, to exert military infl uence on China’s maritime periphery, which contains several disputed zones of core strategic importance to Beijing. ASBMs are regarded as a means by which technologically limited developing countries can overcome by asymmetric means their qualitative inferiority in conventional combat platforms, because the gap between offense and defense is the greatest
here. Today, China may be closer than ever to attaining this capability.

US Naval War College Review – China’s Antiship Ballistic Missile: Developments and Missing Links

China’s pursuit of an antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) has been called a potential “game changer,” a weapon that could single-handedly shift the strategic balance with the United States. A retired U.S. Navy rear admiral asserted as early as 2005 that an ASBM capability could represent “the strategic equivalent of China’s acquiring nuclear weapons in 1964.” Whether or not this is accurate, an effective ASBM capability would undoubtedly constitute a formidable antiaccess weapon against the U.S. Navy in the western Pacifi c, particularly during a conflict over Taiwan. However, as the Chinese literature demonstrates, it would mean more than that. Fully operational ASBM capability along with essential C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance) support would be a barometer of China’s greater military modernization effort, a potential instrument for regional strategic ambitions, and perhaps an important element in tipping the long-term maritime
strategic balance with respect to the United States.

Xinhua – Chinese new naval flotilla sets sail for Gulf of Aden while merchant vessel still held by pirates

A new Chinese naval flotilla was deployed to the Gulf of Aden and waters off the coast of Somalia on Friday to protect merchant vessels against rampant pirates that still hold a Chinese ship for ransom. The flotilla of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has been the fourth task force of its kind that China has sent to the region since the end of last year.

BBC – China vows to free hijacked ship

China has pledged to make an “all out” effort to rescue a cargo ship with 25 crew on board that has been hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Defense Technology International – Chinese Carrier Strike

Chinese ambitions may be to give its carrier air wing an air-to-surface role from the outset, at least if what appears to be a mock-up of a naval Flanker is to be taken at face value.

The Diplomat – Why China Military Watchers Got It Wrong

The publication last month of a monograph by the RAND Corporation, which dramatically overturns longstanding assumptions about the defense of Taiwan, should make sobering reading for US policymakers.

DefenseTech – Cross Strait Relations Changing

Norman Polmar downplays the threat of war between China and Taiwan.

Daily Telegraph – US and Australia invite China to war games

The US and Australia will invite China to take part in joint naval and military exercises in a move that highlights the changing balance of power in the Pacific.

Armed Forces Journal – Flashpoint: The Great Wall goes to sea

China’s naval renewal raises critical questions for the world.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Welcome China to the Fight Against Pirates

The Chinese deployment to the Gulf of Aden is historic and significant.

Defense Tech – China’s Increasing Naval Threat Overstated

Norman Polmar is not so impressed with the Chinese Navy…

US Naval Institute Proceedings – An Undersea Deterrent?

China’s investment in a nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine force and the accompanying infrastructure indicates a major effort to take the boats to sea.

Defense Tech – Chinese Navy Requires Supercruising Fighter

A supercruising combat aircraft is a high priority of the Chinese navy, the country’s top admiral says in a revealing official interview that gives strong clues of perceived shortcomings and future directions for the maritime force.