In the fifth in our series on understanding Asia-Pacific sea power, we look at the PLA’s growing expeditionary capabilities and its greater implications.
This is the fifth entry in our series on understanding Asia-Pacific sea power.
China’s military is in the nascent stages of becoming an expeditionary force. The country’s anti-piracy deployment to the Gulf of Aden and the use of naval and air assets to support the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Libya in February and March 2011 have shown real capability in this arena.
What is an expeditionary power? The US Department of Defense defines it as ‘an armed force organized to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign country.’ Additionally, such a force should be able to transport, sustain,and protect itself so that it hasthe freedom toconduct independent missions necessary forthe defense of national interests. The PLA’s gradual but important evolution toward greater expeditionary capability coincides with China’s steadily rising economic presence and the increasing number of Chinese seeking their fortunes in volatile but often fast-growing countries in places like Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, both as employees of large state conglomerates and as private entrepreneurs.
For now however, due to cost and perception reasons, China’s expeditionary capabilities will most likely be tailored to handling threats to Chinese citizens and economic interests abroad. Foremost among these are non-traditional threats to resource security, such as piracy and terrorism, as well as threats to PRC citizens overseas, such as the internal chaos seen in Libya. Compare this with the US military, which possesses highly sustainable expeditionary capabilities that enable it to fight large wars halfway across the world and simultaneously handle other contingencies. The platforms and operational infrastructure that make high-intensity missions possible can also be scaled down to deal with non-traditional security missions like humanitarian relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami or suppression of piracy off Somalia. Therefore, the PLA’s naval, air and ground capabilities for out-of-area operations are likely at least 15 years away—and even further away from achieving the ability to handle the range of missions—from achieving the capabilities the US Department of Defense possesses today.
Photo Credit: US Navy
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BP
@ Liang1a,
Based on your arguments, then China better claim back the whole present Russia, Central Asia, Middle East and the Eastern Europe, etc. because those countries and territories having belonged to the Mongol Empire and later to the Yuan dynasty in China in the 13th and 14th centuries! With this ancient, old-style, imperial mindset, China will surely become a very grave threat to the world’s peace and stability, especially to all of its neighbors in the region!But China must be careful for itself for Russia has still been a nuclear superpower and it won’t hesitate to ‘nuke’ the whole China whenever it deems neccessary!!
Johnny
@BP There comments (JohnChan,Frank,YangZi and Liang1a) are getting more and more detached from realities every day. :( You will be amazed (disgusted?) to hear that those border claims have already been made by our beloved John Chan when he posted -:
“As the international laws stipulate that it is your territory only if you can maintain sovereignty over it, therefore Japan and many European nations are open to be claimed by China on the basis of historical facts that they were part of China once upon a time. Maybe you should check China’s historical record to see whether your nation is susceptible to be claimed by China too.”
Observer
@ Liang1a – wow, we thought John Chan was bad and as the new guy here, you are even worse.
Let see, when you debate something, you bring neutral non biased independence sources to back you up, you don’t bring biased sources, it makes you look not too bright. If China was so right, then why China did not want to bring the dispute to the UN or World Court? Vietnam, Philippine, Indonesia, and everyone else always want to bring ALL parties together and solve the dispute together but China was the ONLY ONE that did not want to do that. Something to hide or faked/forged documents and maps won’t stand up in front of the international community? Or bully smaller nations one on one is much easier?
When I posted about how China was the AGGRESSOR and INVADER in the South Sea, I posted not one, not two, but three sources (from this very own website) to back my statements up. I did not pick and choose biased sources from Vietnam, Philippine, Indonesia, etc. That is how you do debate, understand?
Funny how you did NOT reply to my post about China should give up Guangdong/Hainan and Guangxi Zhuang or Italy (Rome) or Iran (Persian) by using your ridiculous logic. What is the matter?
So when you used China sources, it was ok but when we asked for third parties sources, you declared them as “prejudicial self-serving fabrications of foreigners”. You can NOT have it both ways.
You whined about Chinese people died by the hands of the Japanese, what about millions and millions of people from Vietnam, Korea, Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, etc. who died by REPEATING invasions by the hands of the BARBARIC Chinese invaders?
And you did brag about China. I did quote some of the ridiculous statements such as “China with airplanes that will out run US missiles” from you, why you did not reply?
One more thing, when was the last time Vietnam attacked and enslaved Chinese people? But for the last few thousands years, China tried and tried and tried…..and tried to attack Vietnam and enslave her people, and still fail in the end. And that is an UNDISPUTED historic fact.
@ Charles Yan – read my three links. If you chose not to do so, your choice but you have no right to participate in the debate if you do not know the facts. Who attacked who? China not only attacked Vietnam but Philippine and other countries in the South Sea. Did you see Vietnam, Philippine, Indonesia, Taiwan, or anyone else capture poor fishermen, steal their fishes, and demand ransom money just like bandits/pirates like China? Did you see anyone else declare the whole sea as part of its own? Can you imagine Italy declares the whole Mediterranean Sea as its own? Or India declares the whole Indian Ocean as its own? Do you see how stupid that is? Do you see the big differences between China behavior and other nations with claims in the South Sea? That is what I am trying to point out to you and the Diplomat readers. I am not anything but a fact observer and truth seeker.
Observer
Here is my link about Paracel. Note that it is a well know source world wide and not some propaganda information from any particular country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracel_Islands
Liang1a
Observer, I have no time to waste getting into a spitting match with facetious people. I have given my point of view. You can accept it or reject it. It is your prerogative. What others will decide is up to them. In the end, the most important thing is for China to be strong and able to defend itself and above all not be stupid enough to rely on its enemies for justice.
Observer
@ Liang1a – typical of big mouth Chinese, all talk, name calling, and no action. Your point of view is based on propaganda, opinion, and not actual facts. Your debate skill is horrible. So far, you and your Chinese comrades have not provide us anything that based on actual facts.
A nation defenses itself does NOT mean to invade its neighbors. Since the creation of communist China in 1949, China attacked, invaded, or annexed Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, India, Vietnam, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands.
Still no reply to my other posts? Can’t dispute history, right?
Liang1a
I give below the link to a definitive article on the Chinese sovereignty over the S. China Sea islands.
http://www.southchinasea.org/docs/Li%20and%20Li-The%20Dotted%20Line%20on%20the%20Map.pdf
It is quite obvious that the S. China Sea and the islands enclosed within the indicated areas are all China’s sovereign territories. The Chinese government must immediately expand and develop these islands to put military bases on these islands and develop these islands into tourist spots or for residents of retired people or as depots for fishing industry or locate weather stations on them. It is foolish in the extreme for the Chinese government to talk about peace and cooperation when other aggressive countries are blatantly trying to steal China’s sovereign territories. This is just a repeat of what happened 100 years ago when Japan and European aggressors had attacked China and took China’s sovereign territories. China must not be weak and cowardly and be a “sick man of Asia” as it was 100 years ago but must be courageous and punish all foreign states who try to commit aggression against China. There is no honor to repay aggression with benevolence.
I give below self-explanatory quotes from the article above:
“The six isles occupied by France in July 1933 together with the Macclesfield
Bank and the Spratly Islands measured afterwards by the Nautical Bureau of
the Marine were the living places of Chinese fishermen. The sovereignty, of
course, belonged to China. In April 1935, the Chinese Central Inspection
Committee of Land and Water Maps issued The Map of Chinese Islands in
the South China Sea (Zhongguo nanhai daoyu tu) in its journal. The southern
coastal areas extended to the James Shoal in the Spratly Islands, which
was just at the 4º northern latitude. This was China’s southernmost coastal
boundary in the South China Sea.”
“Professor Zhao Lihai of the Law Department of Beijing
University has concluded that the nine-dotted line indicates clearly Chinese territory and sovereignty of the four islands in the South China Sea and confirm China’s maritime boundary of the South China Sea Islands that have been included in Chinese domain at least since the 15th century. All the islands and their adjacent waters within the boundary line should be under the jurisdiction and control of China.7″
“Taiwan has reportedly deemed “the entire area within the U-shaped line to be China’s historical waters.”17 A Taiwan scholar has explained:
Since the declaration of the 9-discontinued-and-dotted line, the international
society at that time had not put forward any dissents. Neither had the adjacent
States raised any diplomatic protests on the 9-dotted line. These amounted
to acquiescence. After that, quite a lot of maps produced abroad were all
delineated in this way and indicated as pertaining to China. China owns the
historic right of islands, reefs, shoals, banks, and waters within the 9-dotted
line. The South China Sea is regarded as the historic waters of China, which
was universally acknowledged at that time. So far it has lasted for half a
century.18″
Observer
@ Liangla – an article about the South Sea with Chinese authors, nice, why don’t you go ahead and cite Xinhua and People Daily for us while you are at it .
Since you and Chinese bloggers love to talk about how things were a part of China (disputable and mostly because of Chinese invasions) years ago so they must belong to China now so let do this. Fine, since China was a part of Mongolia, Manchuria, Great Britain, Japan, so let divide China and let those nations have all of China as part of theirs. What do you have to say? Perfectly fine to you, right?
Oh, while we are at it, give back Guangdong/Hainan and Guangxi Zhuang to Vietnam because those parts were a part of Vietnam years ago. Italy shall have all of Europe and Northern Africa (Rome Empire) and Iran shall have all of the Middle East (Persian Empire). Shall we go on with this ridiculous logic of you and your comrades?
Johnny
@Liang1a Hahaha Very nice posting Chinese view to *prove* Chinese claims!
A long post doesn’t make you right. Read from good sources (ie NOT Xinhua) and try to think clearly. You DO realize that you are suggesting that your country shall declare war on Vietnam, don’t you? Very well, sit there and post these type of comments from your table/bed as it is the soldiers of both countries who are going to die. I despise people like you who put petty nationalism in front of life of people. Other people have family and life too you know?
Liang1a
Johnny wrote:
April 25, 2011 at 10:22 pm
@Liang1a Hahaha Very nice posting Chinese view to *prove* Chinese claims!
A long post doesn’t make you right. Read from good sources (ie NOT Xinhua) and try to think clearly. You DO realize that you are suggesting that your country shall declare war on Vietnam, don’t you? Very well, sit there and post these type of comments from your table/bed as it is the soldiers of both countries who are going to die. I despise people like you who put petty nationalism in front of life of people. Other people have family and life too you know?
———————————————-
I’m amazed that you people keep insisting that China should use the biased and prejudicial self-serving fabrications of foreigners to prove its sovereignty. Either you people are not very bright or your opinion of the intelligence of the Chinese people is a bit low. Let me disabuse you of your misconception. Chinese people are smarter than you think. Of course, China will rely on its very well documented historical proofs to authenticate its historic rights of its sovereign territories. And these are perfectly valid proofs. The fact you people cannot provide any counter-proofs clearly means the Chinese proofs are valid.
Defending one’s country is not petty nationalism. China suffered millions killed by the Japanese during the last invasive war. No doubt you would suggest that the Chinese should not have resisted when the Japanese invaded. No doubt you would have argued that it was because the Chinese resisted that so many were killed by the barbaric Japanese invaders. I’m glad the Chinese resisted and showed they had the sense of honor without which life itself is meaningless. But that is obviously something you can’t understand.
If any country dare to take Chinese territories now, then I hope the Chinese people will again have the honor to rise up and destroy the invaders. I would like to think China would be able to live in peace with all its neighbors. But as the Chinese saying goes, “人无害虎心，虎有伤人意。” (Man does wish to harm the tiger, but the tiger wishes to harm the man.) China has no choice but to respond to aggressions and defend its motherland. Will I hesitate to kill millions of Vietnamese to defend one inch of Chinese territory? You bet ya! But the Vietnamese always have the choice of not invading China. The choice is up to them.
You despise me? Why should I even care?
Liang1a
Errata:
“人无害虎心，虎有伤人意。” (Man does wish to harm the tiger, but the tiger wishes to harm the man.)
The above should read (Man does ‘NOT’ wish to harm the tiger, …)
Liang1a
Observer wrote:
April 25, 2011 at 3:14 pm
@ Liangla – an article about the South Sea with Chinese authors, nice, why don’t you go ahead and cite Xinhua and People Daily for us while you are at it .
——————————–
Of course I must give the proofs of the Chinese to prove its case. In a criminal case, the prosecution would be stupid to try to prove the guilt of the criminal by using the evidence of the defendant.
If you think the proof provided by the Chinese are not adequate, then you can provide proofs to the contrary. You don’t prove anything by simply disparaging the proofs provided by the Chinese without providing credible proofs to prove them wrong. Furthermore, the proofs provided by the Chinese are extensive going back hundreds of years to the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century when Europeans hadn’t even discovered America.
Liang1a
Observer wrote:
Since you and Chinese bloggers love to talk about how things were a part of China (disputable and mostly because of Chinese invasions) years ago so they must belong to China now so let do this. Fine, since China was a part of Mongolia, Manchuria, Great Britain, Japan, so let divide China and let those nations have all of China as part of theirs. What do you have to say? Perfectly fine to you, right?
—————————————
This is shear nonsense. If a man invaded your home does it mean he is entitled to have your house forever? Of course not. If a man invaded your home you call the plice and have him arrested. By the same token, the Chinese people have inhabited China since before recorded time. The Japanese, British, and other Europeans were invaders who have no right to any part of China. Manchuria is now part of China because the two peoples have merged and the Manchurians have come to regard themselves as part of the Chinese family. By following your twisted logic, if Mongolia has the right to annex China, then China should have the right to annex Mongolia. That is indeed perfectly fine with me. But China does not invade and annex Mongolia. Mongolia is very much still an independent nation. So your argument is pointless.
The Japanese is still holding a part of China’s sovereign territory in Diaoyu Islands. China wants it back. And sooner or later China will take it back.
As to the Brits and other Europeans dividing up China again, just let them try. As I said before, China has the potential to be more technologically advanced and economically bigger than all the rest of the world combined given an enlightened set of policies to develop it. Even half developed China would still be a match against all the world combined. Even now with its ramshackle and degraded economy and backward technologies China already has an economy that is some $13 trillion in PPP valuation and more than twice as big as the Japanese economy and a military that could easily blow away Japan and Europe with thousands of nuclear ICBMs that China has already tested and could easily afford to deploy.
Liang1a
Johnny wrote:
Other people have family and life too you know?
———————————-
Of course they do. And if they value their lives and families then let them stay out of China. If they invade China then whom can they blame but themselves for getting killed by the Chinese defenders and turn their wives into widows and their kids into orphans?
Johnny
@Liang1a No, you are wrong. Completely.
Attacking another country doesn’t mean defense. If you think otherwise then you are delusional.
Occupation in history is not accepted as an valid claim. If it is then China was also under various countries are you going to give their land back to them?
Posters like you reaffirm my faith that China needs an open press and media as the state controlled media has filled people with hatred and false history that suits the CPC puppeteers but hurts the nation as a whole.
Liang1a
How many world class scientists and engineers can China produce? I’d say at least millions. America has some 600,000 science and engineering Ph.D. (20,000 per year for 30 years.) China has millions of genius level people. If the smartest one out of each 100 Chinese is a genius then China has 13 million of them. If the smartest one out of each thousand Chinese is a genius, then China has 1.3 million of them. It is therefore safe to say that China has millions of genius level people. If these genius level people can be educated and trained to the Ph. D. level then China will have millions of world class scientists and engineers to develop the most advanced technologies in the world.
America has a per capita GDP of $50,000 and a total GDP of $15 trilloin on a population of 300 million. If the Chinese people have the same or even bigger GNP then China’s total GNP will be somewhere between $75 trillion and $100 trillion. This is from 300 trillion yuan on an exchange rate of 3 yuan per dollar and a per capita GNP of 200,000 yuan and a population of 1.5 billion (in 2030).
This means then that China could budget 2% of its $100 trillion GNP to the military which will amounts to some $2 trillion per year. America’s current military budge is just short of $1 trillion or 6.5% of GDP. This means that China can develop even more advanced weapons and deploy them in twice the number. If America can deploy 1,000 F-22 then China can deploy 2,000 5th generation fighter that are even more lethal than F-22. Maybe even a 6th generation fighter with scramjets that can fly faster than any American missiles.
Therefore, it all comes down to what China can do to educate millions of world class scientists and engineers and what China can do to develop its domestic economy through the urbanization of its billion plus farmers and rural residents. If China can educate millions of world class scientists and engineers and develop a $100 trillion equivalent economy, then there is nothing that can stand in China’s way of becoming the sole ultra-superpower of the world. But if China continued to rely on exports and can achieve an economy of less than $10 trillion and with no advanced technologies of its own, then it will always be weak and be despised by the Japanese and the westerners and be pushed around by them. China has the potential. But whether they can achieve that potential is entirely up to them. Are they equal to the task? Only time will tell.