The latest edition of China Analysis by the ECFR and Asia Centre deals with China’s maritime ambitions. It examines the rise of China’s naval power – by looking at the increasingly open debates between Chinese experts and commentators themselves. China recently sent one of its most advanced ships – the Xuzhou missile frigate – to the Libyan coast as part of the operation to evacuate almost forty thousand of its citizens. This is the first time a Chinese Navy ship has been deployed on an active mission in the region. China is becoming the last “great nation” to expand its navy in the grand geopolitical tradition, just as Europe’s naval capacity declines. Meanwhile, India and Korea are also sending navy ships to the Libyan coast. The status quo, of former colonial powers and the United States having a monopoly on the projection of forces, is nearing its end.
Summary
– CHINA’S SEA POWER: REACHING OUT TO THE BLUE WATERS –
The PLA Navy in the Indian Ocean (Mathieu Duchâtel)
The PLA Navy by 2020 (Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix)
The illusion of a Malacca dilemma (Mathieu Duchâtel)
Deploying the Varyag and developing aircraft carriers (Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix)