April 23, 2024 marks the 75th founding anniversary of the Chinese Navy (also known as the People’s Liberation Army Navy). Over the years, it has grown from scratch into a strategic force consisting of five services, armed with both nuclear and conventional weapons.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, China has numerically the largest navy in the world with an overall battle force of over 370 ships and submarines, including more than 140 major surface combatants. Be that as it may, some observers have raised doubts that China’s naval power is not as great as is claimed.
Because of the tendency of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for censorship and the totalitarian nature of supreme leader Xi Jinping to control all narratives, there will always be opaqueness and propaganda in matters relating to China, especially surrounding matters the authority deems to be of national interests.
It is no exception for the Chinese Navy and there is almost always denial and no comment when there is a perceived or actual incident. It must be said that most of the time, the incidents may not have happened but unfortunately, the inclination for a lack of transparency will possibly fuel more speculation and suspicion.
In early 2024, there were unverified reports and images of a submarine spotted in a Wuhan port, but in June, it had disappeared, followed by the appearance of salvage cranes. Speculations were rife that the submarine has sunk and it was noted that the launching ceremony of the first Hangor-class submarine China developed for Pakistan was held in Wuhan in April.
According to media reports, in the early morning of August 18, a nuclear Jin-class ballistic missile submarine was photographed on the surface of Taiwan Strait, about 200 km from Taiwan’s western coast, by crews of a Taiwanese fishing boat.
Nuclear-powered submarines can operate underwater for months at a time and they rarely surface because of the secretive nature of their missions. Some experts speculated that this incident might indicate a malfunction and the submarine was forced to surface. However, on the other hand, it may also be a routine maintenance or a deliberate show of force.
The UK’s Daily Mail, on October 3, 2023, reported the alleged accident of a Chinese Shang-class nuclear submarine in the Yellow Sea on August 21, 2023, when it hit a chain and anchor obstacle used by the Chinese navy to trap U.S. and allied submarines. All 55 sailors reportedly died from a lack of oxygen.
Two days after the Daily Mail’s report, Taiwan’s UP Media reported that the real cause of the accident was the explosion of a torpedo in the launch tube. However, experts dismissed these reports as not credible.
According to the U.S 2022 National Security Strategy, China is the only competitor to the U.S. with the intent and increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order. In this clash of opposing ideological systems, Communist China wants to upend the rules-based order and replace it with one that favor authoritarian regimes.
To project power, China continues to challenge foreign military activities in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in a manner that is inconsistent with the rules of customary international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. At the same time, the Chinese Navy conducts activities in the EEZs of other countries, including the United States, Australia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
The CCP has tasked the People’s Liberation Army to develop the capability to project power outside China’s borders and immediate periphery to secure the China’s growing overseas interests and advance its foreign policy goals. This has led to China’s greater willingness to use military coercion to advance its global security and development interests.
The Chinese Navy is largely composed of modern multi-mission ships and submarines. The Chinese fleets are much newer but smaller in tonnage, as about 70 percent of their warships were launched after 2010 and consisted mostly of newly designed destroyers, frigates and corvettes with only a few amphibious warfare ships and the two commissioned aircraft carriers.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing stated that Chinese shipbuilding capacity is over 230 times greater than that of the U.S., and the Office of Naval Intelligence has projected that China will have 475 battle force ships by 2035 while the U.S. Navy will have 305 to 317.
According to an August 23 commentary by the Global Times, a Chinese official media, the powerful fleets of the Chinese Navy are not threats but contributors of peace, and that the navy will keep developing and getting more powerful in the future to meet the demand of safeguarding the nation and world peace.
The commentary blamed Western countries, especially the U.S. and a few of its allies, of hyping the China threat rhetoric by distorting China’s intention of developing a strategic naval force, because these countries were unable to maintain maritime hegemony due to the powerful Chinese navy.
A Chinese military expert who asked for anonymity said: “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.
“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.”
Photo credit: iStock/ tonisvisuals
