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Showing posts with the label Chinese maritime strategy

Beijing's Dream: Becoming a Maritime Superpower ( Source- Wikimedia Commpons / Author- Michael McDevitt)

Image credits- VOA Source- The National Interest Author-  Michael McDevitt In November 2012, then president Hu Jintao’s work report to the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Party Congress was a defining moment in China’s maritime history. Hu declared that China’s objective is to be a haiyang qiangguo—that is, a strong or great maritime power. China “should enhance our capacity for exploiting marine resources, develop the marine economy, protect the marine ecological environment, resolutely safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests, and build China into a strong maritime power” (emphasis added). Hu’s report also called for building a military (the PLA) that would be “commensurate with China’s international standing.” These two objectives were repeated in the 2012 PRC defense white paper, which was not released until April 2013, after Xi Jinping had assumed Party and national leadership. According to the white paper:   China is a major maritime as well as la

The Shifting Contours of China's Maritime Strategy ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Abhijit Singh)

Image credits- VOA Source- The National Interest  Author- Abhijit Singh Has there been a recent shift in China's maritime strategy in the South China Sea? Has Beijing tempered its land reclamation and island building campaign, choosing to highlight positive aspects of its maritime security conduct? Is the PLAN becoming more accepting of the realities of the South China Sea, recalibrating its strategy to emphasise a more passive and benevolent presence? In a recent Lowy Institute Report, Rory Medcalf and Ashley Townshend point to an interesting evolution in China's maritime thinking. The duo contend that not only has China turned more conciliatory in its maritime policy, Beijing is now advocating confidence-building measures that until recently it had refused to consider, helping lower the risks of maritime incidents, miscalculations and accidental conflict. Yet this behaviour is also facilitating what the authors say is a form of 'passive assertiveness

China Blocks US Aircraft Carrier John C. Stennis Access To Hong Kong Port ( Source- Eurasia Review / Author- MINA)

USS John C. Stennis ( Image credits- Flickr / United States Navy) Source- Eurasia Review Author- MINA  China has denied a US request for an aircraft carrier group led by USS John C. Stennis to make a port visit to Hong Kong, the US State Department said on Friday, confirming earlier media reports. Pentagon spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said another US warship, the USS Blue Ridge, was currently in Hong Kong on a stop-over and the US expected that to continue. Urban added that the request for a Hong Kong visit by the carrier and its strike group, which have been patrolling the South China Sea, was recently denied, despite a “long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong.” The Chinese government, as well as the country’s embassy in Washington did not comment. The warship requested a port call permit early on Thursday. The South China Morning Post newspaper, citing the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reported that port calls by US warships and m

Get Ready, India: China's Navy Is Pushing West ( Source- The National Interest / Author- James Holmes)

CNS Kunming ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / æµ·é˜²å…ˆé”‹) Source- The National Interest Author- James Holmes There are worse things than fleeing the bleak New England midwinter for warmer climes—such as Jaipur, India’s famed “Pink City.” So cold was it when I departed Providence last month that the nozzle on my plane’s fuel hose froze shut, grounding the plane until the crew could unfreeze it. Frolicking around in shirtsleeves at a Mughal dynasty fort in Rajasthan was a welcome relief from frostbite. The occasion for the trip, though, was three days of “quad-plus dialogue” about sundry topics important to Indian Ocean powers. The “quad,” or standing membership for these unofficial “track II” gatherings, refers to India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Sri Lanka is the “plus,” or rotating participant, for this year. Maritime governance in the Pacific and Indian oceans was the subject of my panel. China came up repeatedly during the gathering, which should sho