Is Chinese Naval Power A Threat To Its Neighbours?

September 7, 2009

Martin McCauley writes: China’s incursion into the Gulf of Aden in January 2009, to take part in joint anti-piracy measures, caused quite a stir.Two Chinese state-of-the-art destroyers and a logistics ship acquitted themselves well and coordinated smoothly with other fleets, especially the U.S. led Task Force 151, the European Union’s Operation Atlanta and various other contingents from India, Russia and the like. The Chinese navy, in explaining its presence in the Indian Ocean, stressed the need to protect Chinese and Taiwanese shipping and the transport of UN food to Africa. It was also to enhance China’s international standing as a responsible great power. Hence it was essentially a peace mission.

The exercise was classified by Chinese commentators as a ‘non-war military operation’. This came about because of the need to cope with a non-traditional security threat. This is an example of what is called ‘soft power’. This means extending China’s naval reach and influence without arousing fears that the Middle Kingdom is becoming a threat to littoral states.

China was found wanting during the tsunami crisis of 2004-2005. It did not possess the requisite naval capability to provide aid. Since then it has built a hospital ship and landing vessels, among other things, which can now fulfil such a mission. Gradually international goodwill is being built up because the Chinese navy contributes to international maritime security.

Over 90 per cent of world trade is carried on ships. Hence, secure sea lanes, the elimination of piracy and terrorism and peace are important objectives and contribute to globalisation. Freedom of movement over the oceans is now an objective of the Chinese Navy.

It all adds up to another strand in China ‘smiling diplomacy’. The goal is to ensure that the Middle Kingdom is regarded as a benign presence in the world’s oceans while it constructs a navy which is capable of challenging successfully any other maritime power.
President Hu Jintao stresses the rising importance of culture in building national cohesion and pride. So far China’s naval presence has been well received by its neighbours. This reveals that Middle Kingdom’s ‘soft power’ is increasing at a time when that of the Unites States has been diminishing. The Obama administration is keen to move away from the physical demonstration of power, replacing it with ‘soft power and smart power’. The latter is based on high technology and here Washington has a clear advantage.

Beijing is fond of quoting the extensive voyages of the Ming Dynasty admiral Zheng He. Over the years 1405 to 1433, there were seven naval expeditions to the Indian Ocean basin. At times there were 300 ships and about 28,000 sailors involved. This huge fleet was designed to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade and impress rulers in littoral states. Zheng He’s fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Thailand (then known as Siam). As was customary at the time, lavish gifts were offered to local rulers: including gold, silver, porcelain and silk. In return the Chinese were given ostriches, zebras, giraffes and ivory, among other things. One wonders what they did with the unfortunate animals! There is a saying that the Chinese will eat anything on four legs except a table. Perhaps, in this case, it was true.

Zheng He certainly did impress the locals with his display of power. There are some accounts which relate that he ‘walked like a tiger’ and deployed violence to achieve his objectives. He was especially hard on pirates which infested the sea lanes at that time. He was reported to have intervened in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to resolve a local dispute. On his fourth voyage, he transported envoys from thirty states to pay their respects to the Emperor and the Ming court. A new emperor took over and he decided that the ‘treasure voyages’ had to end. China then withdrew into its shell. One wonders what the world would look like now had Chinese naval power (and immigrants) continued to be deployed worldwide.

Beijing cites the Zheng He voyages as an example of soft power. China did not conquer territory, acquire treaty ports or collect tribute even though it had the power to do so. Present day China is following this trend.
Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Prime Minister, addressing an audience in Cambridge University, in February 2009, stressed that Beijing is opposed to power politics and military superiority. He argued that China does not accept the view that a strong state must be a hegemonic power. Hegemony is alien to Chinese cultural tradition.

This was an extraordinary assertion given the fact that the Middle Kingdom had always surrounded itself, for reasons of security, with vassal or tributary states. The Chinese Navy now stresses that the world’s strongest navy – during the Ming dynasty – did not sign any unequal treaties, did not acquire any territory and ‘did not bring back a single slave’. China is now continuing this tradition.

Whether China’s neighbours will accept this new reading of Chinese history remains to be seen. India laments the fact that it is culturally attractive to its neighbours but is a weak power. Growing Chinese soft power is perceived as a long term threat. India sees the anti-piracy expedition as the harbinger of a permanent Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean. The point that the size and power of the Ming dynasty fleets made it unnecessary to use force to achieve its objectives is not lost on the Indians.

China is now putting together a ‘string of pearls’ which extends from China to East Africa. This includes building port facilities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. When will the expansion of soft power be perceived as a rising security threat to China’s neighbours?

– End –

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