Is This A Good PLAN?

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/exposed-how-chinas-navy-went-global-12523

With the growing importance of sea power in today’s political standing among global competitors, watching China’s continually developing Navy, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), is important in recognizing the threat they potentially pose to American naval operations.

According to Christopher Sharman, the People’s Liberation Army Navy has been developing and modernizing their naval strategy and operations over the last decade; frequency of exercises, duration of deployments, the distance traveled from mainland China, and the complexity of its operations to include more unscripted and multi-fleet training. With China’s growing naval military capabilities, should the United States view this as a potential threat to their power? The provided video below can help answer this question.

Despite China increasing the size of their battleship fleet, for example, many scholars do not view this as a direct threat to American naval power and strategy due to the differing levels of quality. What this video does not address, but the article “Exposed: How China’s Navy Went Global” does is that China is not just proliferating the size of their fleet, they are continually developing and working their naval strategy to make it more effective. China has maintained permanent counter-piracy escort flotilla in the Indian Ocean, as well as increased naval exercises and operations beyond the First Island Chain further in the Western Pacific. As part of their ever-developing naval strategy, PLAN hopes to incorporate “far seas defense” in an effort to extend their maritime control farther away from the mainland.

http://en.people.cn/mediafile/200812/30/F200812301034592526240551.jpg

Furthermore, with their growing development of naval operations, China has begun to incorporate multi-fleet practice exercises, working in conjunction with air support as well. Therefore, even though the video claims that China is likely not be a threat to the United States in terms of the quality of PLAN, the United States should take into account the fact the Chinese are simultaneously deploying ships for practice operations and working out their strategy further.

Moreover, with the growing importance of sea power in today’s global power positioning, PLAN’s approach in developing their naval strategy such that they can protect their interests, whether it be political or economic, farther past the mainland show how they are actively preparing for future quarrels.

“China vs. USA: PLA Navy Now Has More Submarines than the US Navy.” YouTube. Accessed May 22, 2015.

Sharman, Christopher. “Exposed: How China’s Navy Went Global.” The National Interest. April 2, 2015. Accessed May 22, 2015.

Help Received: Article/Video listed above