Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T21:50:27.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Barriers, Springboards and Benchmarks: China Conceptualizes the Pacific “Island Chains”*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2016

Andrew S. Erickson  and
Joel Wuthnow
Andrew S. Erickson*
Affiliation:
US Naval War College, Newport, RI.
Joel Wuthnow
Affiliation:
US National Defense University, Washington, DC.
*
Email: andrew.erickson@usnwc.edu (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

US government reports describe Chinese-conceived “island chains” in the Western Pacific as narrow demarcations for Chinese “counter-intervention” operations to defeat US and allied forces in altercations over contested territorial claims. The sparse scholarship available does little to contest this excessively myopic assertion. Yet, further examination reveals meaningful differences that can greatly enhance an understanding of Chinese views of the “island chains” concept, and with it important aspects of China's efforts to develop as a maritime power. Long before China had a navy or naval strategists worthy of the name, the concept had originated and been developed for decades by previous great powers vying for Asia-Pacific influence. Today, China's own authoritative interpretations are flexible, nuanced and multifaceted – befitting the multiple and sometimes contradictory factors with which Beijing must contend in managing its meteoric maritime rise. These include the growing importance of sea lane security at increasing distances and levels of operational intensity.

摘要

美国政府报告把中国设想的西太平洋 “岛链” 概念描述为中国军队为在有关领土争端的 “反干涉”作战中试图打败美国和盟国部队而设立的狭窄的界线。寥寥无几的相关研究对这个过于短视的看法也没有提出不同意见。然而, 进一步的分析却发现此概念有迥然不同的含义。这些含义能大大增强我们对中国为发展成为一个海洋大国所做出的努力的理解。这个概念是在中国有一个现代的海军或海军战略家之前由其他有影响力的大国为争夺亚太地区的影响力而发展起来的。如今, 中国对此概念的权威解释显示出其灵活性, 微妙性和多面性。这些解释特征恰恰能与北京在管理其海上崛起过程中许多有时是相互矛盾的因素相适应。这些因素包括由于不断增大距离和活动强度所导致的海上通道安全日益增长的重要性。

Keywords

Chinaisland chainstrategymilitarymaritimenavy中国岛链战略军事海事海军
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 225 , March 2016 , pp. 1 - 22
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

These are the authors’ personal views, and not those of their respective institutions. For comments on earlier drafts, the authors thank Dennis Blasko, M. Taylor Fravel, Ryan D. Martinson, Ivan Rasmussen, Al Willner, and three anonymous reviewers.

References

Acheson, Dean. 1951. “Remarks by the secretary of state (Acheson) before the National Press Club, Washington, January 12, 1950.” In Dennett, Raymond and Turner, Robert (eds.), Documents on American Foreign Relations, Vol. 12: January 1–December 31, 1950. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 426–433.Google Scholar
Bai, Yanlin. 2007. “Daolian shang de shijie haijun” (The world navies on the island chains). Dangdai haijun 10(October), 10–20.Google Scholar
Bi, Xinglin (ed.). 2002. Zhanyi lilun xuexi zhinan (Campaign Theory Study Guide). Beijing: Guofang daxue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Cheng, Dean. 2011. “Sea power and the Chinese state: China's maritime ambitions.” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder Report No. 2576, 11 July, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/sea-power-and-the-chinese-state-chinas-maritime-ambitions. Accessed 21 December 2015.Google Scholar
Cliff, Roger. 2011. “Anti-access measures in Chinese defense strategy.” Testimony before the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission, Washington, DC, 27 January.Google Scholar
Cole, Bernard. 2010. The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy in the Twenty-First Century (2nd ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.Google Scholar
Cole, Bernard. 2014. “Island chains and naval classics.” US Naval Institute Proceedings 140(11), 68–73.Google Scholar
Dan, Jie, and Ju, Lang. 2005. “Fei xiang Zhongguo de ‘ni huo’ he ‘xiong’” ([Russian] “Backfire” and “Bear” [Strategic Bombers] to fly to China). Jianzai wuqi March, 12–16.Google Scholar
Ding, Zhaolun. 2011. “Qiaokai weilai haizhan zhisheng zhi men” (Knock open the gate of winning future sea battles), Renmin haijun, 11 March.Google Scholar
Du, Jingchen. 2010. “Ba yuanhai dayang dangzuo ‘lian bing chang’” (Regard the distant seas and oceans as training areas), Renmin haijun, 18 May.Google Scholar
Feng, Liang, and Duan, Tingzhi. 2007. “Zhongguo haiyang diyuan anquan tezheng yu xin shiji haishang anquan zhanlüe” (Characteristics of China's sea geostrategic security and sea security strategy in the new century). Zhongguo junshi kexue 1, 22–29.Google Scholar
Flynn, Michael. 2014. “Annual threat assessment.” Statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, DC, 11 February.Google Scholar
Fravel, M. Taylor, and Christopher, Twomey. 2015. “Projecting strategy: the myth of Chinese counter-intervention.” The Washington Quarterly 37(4), 171–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, B.A. 2015. 21st Century Ellis: Operational Art and Strategic Prophecy for the Modern Era. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.Google Scholar
Fuell, Lee. 2014. “Broad trends in Chinese air force and missile modernization.” Testimony presented to the US–China Economic Security Review Commission, Washington, DC, 30 January.Google Scholar
Guoji zhanwang. 2005. “Meiguo yingpai renwu zai fang kuangyan – toushi Meiguo kongzhong daji Zhongguo jihua” (Members of the US “hawk faction” rave again: a perspective on a US plan to attack China from the air). Guoji zhanwang 9, 27–28.Google Scholar
Hammes, T.X. 2012. “Offshore control: a proposed strategy for an unlikely conflict.” Strategic Forum 278, 1–14.Google Scholar
Hattendorf, John, Simpson, B. Mitchell and Wadleigh, John R.. 1984. Soldiers and Scholars: The Centennial History of the US Naval War College. Newport, RI: Naval War College Press.Google Scholar
Holmes, James. 2011. “Integrated Chinese saturation attacks: Mahan's logic, Mao's grammar.” In Erickson, Andrew and Goldstein, Lyle (eds.), Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 407–422.Google Scholar
Huang, Alexander. 1994. “The Chinese navy's offshore active defense strategy: conceptualization and implications.” Naval War College Review 47(3), 7–32.Google Scholar
Hui, Zhu. 2009. Zhanlüe kongjun lun (Strategic Air Force). Beijing: Lantian chubanshe.Google Scholar
Kaplan, Robert. 2010. “The geography of Chinese power.” Foreign Affairs 89(3), 22–41.Google Scholar
Krepinevich, Andrew F. Jr. 2015. “How to deter China: the case for archipelagic defense.” Foreign Affairs 94(2), https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-02-16/how-deter-china.Google Scholar
Li, Yihu. 2007. “Cong hailu erfen dao hailu xichou – dui Zhongguo hailu guanxi de zai shenshi” (Sea and land power: from dichotomy to overall planning – a review of the relationship between sea and land power). Xiandai guoji guanxi 8, 1–7.Google Scholar
Liang, Fang. 2011. Haishang zhanlüe tongdao lun (On Maritime Strategic Access). Beijing: Shishi chubanshe.Google Scholar
Liu, Huaqing. 2004. Liu Huaqing huiyi lü (Memoirs of Liu Huaqing). Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe.Google Scholar
Lou, Douzi. 2004. “Tizhi bianzhi tiaozheng hou, kan haijun kongjun de bu shi (yi)” (Looking at navy and air force dispositions following establishment restructuring (part 1)), Jiefangjun bao, 14 July.Google Scholar
Ma, Guangwu. 2011. Zhongguo heping fazhan zhong de qiangjun zhanlüe (The Strong Army Strategy in China's Peaceful Development). Beijing: Junshi kexue chubanshe.Google Scholar
MacArthur, Douglas. 1951. “Old soldiers never die…” Typescript speech for address given 19 April, Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm048.html. Accessed 10 December 2015.Google Scholar
McDevitt, Michael. 2011. “The PLA navy's antiaccess role in a Taiwan contingency.” In Saunders, Phillip C., Yung, Christopher, Swaine, Michael and Yang, Andrew Nien-dzu (eds.), The Chinese Navy: Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles. Washington, DC: NDU Press, 191–214.Google Scholar
Miller, Edward. 1991. War Plan Orange: The US Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897–1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.Google Scholar
Muller, David. 1983. China as a Maritime Power. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Nathan, Andrew J. 1996. “China's goals in the Taiwan Strait.” The China Journal 35, 87–93.Google Scholar
Office of the Secretary of Defense. 2011. Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China. Washington, DC: DoD.Google Scholar
Office of the Secretary of Defense. 2012. Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China. Washington, DC: DoD.Google Scholar
Office of the Secretary of Defense. 2015. Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China. Washington, DC: DoD.Google Scholar
Peattie, Mark. 1988. Nan‘yō: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885–1945. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Peng, Guangqian, and Yao, Youzhi (eds.). 2005. The Science of Military Strategy. Beijing: Military Science Press.Google Scholar
PLAN Headquarters. 2012. Zhongguo haijun junren shouce (Handbook of PLA Navy Personnel). Beijing: Haichao chubanshe.Google Scholar
Qingnian cankao. 2012. “Zhongguo haijun mouhua pojie ‘daolian fengsuo’” (China's navy plots to break through the “island chain blockade”), 31 October.Google Scholar
Run, Jiaqi. 2014. “Zhuanjia cheng Zhongguo junshi liliang poshi Meiguo cong diyi daolian xiang hou shousuo” (Experts say China's military power has forced the United States to retreat from the First Island Chain), Renmin wang, 8 October.Google Scholar
Sharman, Christopher H. 2015. “China moves out: stepping stones toward a new maritime strategy.” China Strategic Perspectives 9, 1–60.Google Scholar
Swenson-Wright, John. 2005. Unequal Allies? United States Security and Alliance Policy toward Japan, 1945–1960. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
US Department of State. 1948. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Vego, Milan. 1992. Soviet Naval Tactics. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.Google Scholar
Vego, Milan. 2014. Major Fleet-versus-Fleet Operations in the Pacific War, 1941–1945. Newport, RI: Naval War College Press.Google Scholar
Wachman, Alan. 2007. Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, Jing (ed.). 2004. “Mei hangmu zai Taiwan zhouwei yanxi shenme (er)” (What exercises are the US aircraft carrier conducting around Taiwan? Part 2), CCTV International, 19 June.Google Scholar
Wang, Weixing, and Teng, Jianqun. 2000. “Air-launched cruise missiles are hanging at Asia's door,” Jiefangjun bao, 6 September, 12.Google Scholar
Whitney, Courtney. 1956. MacArthur: His Rendezvous with History. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Willard, Robert. 2011. “Statement of Admiral Robert F. Willard, US Navy.” Statement before the House Armed Services Committee, Washington, DC, 6 April.Google Scholar
Wu, Qingli, and Xie, Jingsheng. 2004. “Toushi Meijun quanqiu junli da tiaozheng” (Analysis of global force readjustment by the US military), Jiefangjun bao, 1 September, 12.Google Scholar
Xu, Changyin. 2010. “Zhandou jianting biandui yuanhang zonghe baozhang wenti qietan” (Preliminary discussion on issues in comprehensive support of warship formations during long-distance voyages), Renmin haijun, 6 December.Google Scholar
Xu, Qi. 2004. “21 shiji chu haishang diyuan zhanlüe yu Zhongguo haijun de fazhan” (Maritime geostrategy and the development of the Chinese navy in the early 21st century). Zhongguo junshi kexue 59(4), 75–81.Google Scholar
Xu, Xikang. 2011. “Yi Liu Huaqing siling de haijun zhanlüe” (Recalling Commander Liu Huaqing's naval strategy), Zhongguo shehui kexue bao, 20 June.Google Scholar
Yu, Yang, and Qi, Xiaodong. 2005. “Meijun jidi da tiaozheng: miaozhun ‘xian fazhi ren’ bai bing bu zhen” (Major realignment of US military bases: deployment aimed at launching “preemptive strikes”), Zhongguo guofang bao, 19 April, 2.Google Scholar
Zhang, Qingbao, and Lin, Xiaoying. 2013. “Zheili de diqing bu jia yinhao” (Here, the enemy situation is no longer in quotation marks), Renmin haijun, 13 May.Google Scholar
Zhang, Shiping. 2009. Zhongguo haiquan (China's Sea Power). Beijing: Renmin ribao chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zhongguo guoji guanxi yanjiuyuan. 2005. Guoji zhanlüe yu anquan xingshi pinggu 2004–2005 (Review of the International Strategic and Security Situation 2004–2005). Beijing: Shishi chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zhongguo junshi kexue yuan. 2013. Zhanlüe xue (Science of Strategy). Beijing: Junshi kexue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zu, Ming. 2006. “Meiguo zhu xi taiping diqu haijun bingli bushu yu jidi tixi shiyitu” (A schematic diagram of the US naval forces deployed and system of bases in the Western Pacific). Jianchuan zhishi 2(January), 24.Google Scholar
Zuo, Liping. 2013. “Hangmu biandui chicheng hai zhangchang de daguo de zhong jian” (Carrier battle group gallops to the sea battlefield, is the strong sword of a great nation), Renmin haijun, 3 December.Google Scholar