Chinese naval shipbuilding: an ambitious and uncertain course

As Washington's new National Security Strategy emphasises China is engaged in continuous competition with America--neither fully "at peace" nor "at war." Per this national guidance the U.S. Navy must raise its competitive game to meet that challenge in part by addressing the potential risks to American interests and values posed by all three Chinese sea forces: the Navy Coast Guard and Maritime Militia.

In terms of ship numbers each is the largest of its type in the world. China's maritime "gray zone" operations represent a new challenge for the U.S. Navy and the sea services of our allies partners and friends in maritime East Asia. There Beijing is waging what some Chinese sources term a "war without gun smoke." Already winning in important areas it could win far more if left unchecked. One of China's greatest advantages thus far is foreign difficulty in understanding and characterising the situation let alone responding effectively.

With contributions from some of the world's leading subject matter experts, this volume aims to close that gap by elucidating the forces and doctrines driving China's paranaval expansion. This book covers China's major maritime forces beyond core gray-hulled Navy units with particular focus on China's second and third sea forces: the "white-hulled" Coast Guard and "blue-hulled" Maritime Militia. Increasingly, these paranaval forces and the gray zone in which they typically operate are on the frontlines of China's seaward expansion. Beijing uses these forces to further its unresolved maritime claims in the Near Seas (Yellow East and South China Seas) an approach allowing China to "win without fighting." Beijing conducts these operations-more intensely assertive than normal interstate relations but less intense than armed conflict-to alter the status quo without resorting to war. They include actions to assert Chinese sovereignty over waters adjacent to disputed land features and jurisdiction over other parts of the ocean based on China's wilful misinterpretation of international law.

Chinese behaviour at sea harms U.S. interests both directly and indirectly. As a seafaring state, America demands maximal access to the world's oceans within the constraints of international law. Actions that impede that access violate America's maritime freedom. China harms U.S. interests indirectly when it violates the legitimate maritime freedom and maritime rights of its allies and partners. Such acts devalue Washington's commitments to its friends and shake the foundations of our alliance system-the true source of America's global influence. Moreover, China's efforts to curtail and infringe upon both the maritime freedom of all nations including the United States and the maritime rights of its neighbours undermines the rules-based international order. This volume therefore concludes by examining America's response to Beijing's gray zone coercion and suggests what U.S. policymakers can do to counter it.