China Builds-up Naval Power
China has outlined a first ever "white paper" on military strategy that outlined a more robust posture for its blue-water navy, and warned of threats to its security from "still smouldering" boundary disputes over land.
The paper comes a day after an editorial (link in Chinese) in the state-run Chinese tabloid Global Times said conflict between China and the US will be unavoidable if the Washington doesn’t lay off Beijing for building islands and military facilities in disputed parts of the South China Sea.
The white paper, released in Beijing by the State Council, or Cabinet, Information Office, is the first ever dedicated to China's military strategy, and the ninth defence paper issued by the People's Liberation Army.
According to the white paper, the People’s Liberation Army Navy will expand its defense perimeter to include “open seas protection.” The air force will also expand its focus to include offensive as well as defensive military capabilities. “We will not attack unless we are attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked,” the paper said.
The paper said the PLA Navy "will gradually shift its focus from a sole strategy of "offshore waters defence" to a combined one of "offshore waters defence and open seas protection," suggesting a more outward-focused and robust military strategy.
Chinese authorities denied the white paper had anything to do with tension over US surveillance of China’s building in the Spratlys.
The strategy document warns of threats to China's maritime rights and interests. It says China "will not attack unless [it is] attacked, but will counterattack" and mentions the "provocative actions of certain offshore neighbours" and "outside parties involving themselves in South China Sea affairs".
China’s paper is expected to dominate the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore this weekend, to be attended by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and China’s Adm. Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the People’s Liberation Army general staff, as well as top defense officials mainly from Asia.
