Summary: The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China, established on April 23, 1949, has evolved from a littoral force to the world's largest naval force, reflecting China's expanded maritime ambitions. Initially a coastal defense force, significant modernization efforts over the past decade have transformed the PLAN into a formidable blue-water fleet.

This includes acquiring sophisticated submarines, patrol boats, and developing anti-ship missiles, as well as constructing major vessels like two domestically built aircraft carriers. While China portrays its navy as a peacekeeping force, tensions with the United States and claims over the South China Sea highlight the strategic motivations behind its naval expansion.

The PLAN's growth supports China's goal to protect its expanding global interests and assert its claims, particularly in contested maritime regions.

From Coastal Defense to Blue-Water Ambitions: The Evolution of China's PLAN

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the maritime service of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), celebrated its 75th anniversary in April. The PLAN traces its lineage to units fighting during the Chinese Civil War, and it was officially established on April 23, 1949. However, until the late 1980s, it was essentially a riverine and littoral force – a brown-water navy.

The PLAN was reorganized in the mid-1950s with assistance from the Soviet Union, forming the North Sea, East Sea, and South Sea Fleets, but it remained a coastal defense force. Even as it increased in size, and in the late 1980s became the third-largest navy in terms of overall vessels, it was largely subordinate to the PLA Ground Force. That changed in the 1990s as Beijing began looking to expand its influence around the world.

Becoming the Largest Naval Force  

According to a recent report from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), the People's Republic of China over the past decade has carried out a series of military modernization efforts that have provided the PLAN with considerable technological capabilities. It also shifted from purchasing military hardware to becoming a major shipbuilder that is capable of producing increasingly complex warships. That has included two domestically built aircraft carriers.

China has more than quadrupled its number of submarines capable of firing anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), produced dozens of ASCM-carrying patrol boats, and developed anti-ship ballistic missiles. It has greatly improved its force projection, including increasing its replenishment capability by as much as two-thirds, which could allow for greater sustainment of operations far from shore.

Though much attention has been paid to its three aircraft carriers, including the Type 001 Liaoning – purchased from Ukraine and refurbished – Beijing has also constructed the large Yuzhao amphibious ship, which provides the PLAN with capabilities and flexibility not found in its previous landing ships, as well as the Anwei, the PLAN's first large hospital ship. 

China's Missed Opportunity 

Beijing casts its burgeoning navy as a force of peace, one built to protect China's interests. It cites the seven voyages of Admiral Zheng He during the Ming Dynasty in the early 15th century. Zheng's fleets were composed of huge oceangoing ships, far larger, more numerous, and technologically advanced than the caravels of his contemporary Spanish and Portuguese explorers, the FAS noted.

Those ships sailed throughout Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean on missions of trade, diplomacy, and friendship, according to Chinese sources – a contrast to the Europeans, who sailed as colonizers.

"Zheng's voyages represent a moment in history when China stood poised to become the world's dominant maritime power, yet decided to turn away," the FAS authors wrote.

Beijing is not looking to turn away this time, and it claims its naval strength contributes to world peace, warning that the United States and its allies are unfairly hyping a "China threat." The threat, say Chinese officials, isn't from the PLAN – it is from the U.S.

"China is facing serious potential threats from the most powerful naval forces in regions like the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits in recent years, as the U.S. is increasing its military presence in relevant waters to encourage the Taiwan secessionists and threaten China's sovereignty by using its ally the Philippines to provoke China,” warned a Chinese military expert as the PLAN marked its 75th anniversary. “In addition, China has increasing overseas interests and nationals that need protection, so it's very reasonable and legitimate for China to develop a more powerful navy." 

Claiming the South China Sea and Beyond

The argument that the PLAN is a force of peace does lose some credibility given the PRC has long employed the so-called nine-dash line on maps that mark its claims to the South China Sea. It also claims the Republic of China, Taiwan. Contested areas include the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, the Pratas Island, the Vereker Banks, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Scarborough Shoal – roughly 90% of the South China Sea.

Last August, Beijing updated its maps with a ten-dash line that extended China's territorial claims in the region east of Taiwan. The map, published by China's Ministry of Natural Resources, includes huge tracts of the South China Sea, where islands, reefs, and maritime zones are contested by half a dozen countries.

It is said that to maintain peace, you must prepare for war – but that doesn't require fielding the world's largest naval force. Such a force implies a greater goal. In Beijing's case, the PLAN is its way of maintaining peace under its own terms – in the South China Sea and beyond.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu 

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

Image Credit: Chinese State TV Screenshot.