Southeast Asia And The Rise Of Chinese And Indian Naval Power

This book examines the emerging maritime security scene in Southeast Asia. It considers highly topical implications for the region of possible strategic competition between China and India - the rising naval powers of Asia - with a possible naval "arms race" emerging between these countries both with naval force development and operations. As part of its "Look East" policy, India has deployed naval units to the Pacific Ocean for port visits and exercises both with East Asian navies and the US Navy, but India is also concerned about the possibility of the Chinese Navy operating in the Indian Ocean. Even as the US-India defence relationship continues to deepen, the US and China are struggling to build a closer links. China’s and India’s strategic interests overlap in this region both in maritime strategic competition or conflict – which might be played out in the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca and Singapore Straits and the South China Sea. The sea lines of communication (SLOCs) through Southeast Asian waters constitute vital "choke points" between the Indian and Pacific Oceans carrying essential energy supplies for China and other Northeast Asian countries. Any strategic competition between China and India has implications for other major maritime players in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, especially Australia, the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as the US. This book identifies possible cooperative and confidence-building measures that may contribute to enhanced relations between these two major powers and dampen down the risks associated with their strategic competition.

Maritime power has been a key defining parameter of economic vitality and geostrategic power of nations. This book explores how the first decade of the 21st century has witnessed the rise of China and India as confident economic powers pivoting on high growth rates, exponential expansion of science, technology and industrial growth.

Traditionally neglected, the Chinese navy today is gaining growing prominence in security priorities with Chinas opening to the outside world. With an expanding portfolio of missions, from defending territorial waters, backing up national claims to disputed islands, and guarding seaborne trade and sealines, the navy is undergoing a major modernization and expansion programme, with the development and introduction of new generations of warships, submarines, aircraft, and armaments. This paper examines all these aspects and their regional implications.

Geography has moulded Singapore's self-definition, much as it has shaped the contours of the rest of Southeast Asia, a region that lies south of China and east of India. Placed within overlapping Sinic and Indic zones, Singapore's "entrept" role has served both. Today, as China and India emerge simultaneously as rising powers, a port city is going beyond its trading role to engage them in political and security terms. This book combines diplomatic history and international relations theory to show how Singapore is facilitating China's and India's engagement of Southeast Asia.

Asia is headed toward an uncertain and potentially volatile future in the maritime arena. The two rising Asian powers, China and India, dependent as they are on seaborne commerce for their economic well-being, have clearly set their eyes on the high seas. Yoshihara and Holmes offer a stark warning that many strategists in Beijing and New Delhi appear spellbound by the more militant visions of sea power. Indeed, both powers appear poised to develop the capacity to control the sea lanes through which the bulk of their commerce flows. If they enter the nautical environment with such a martial mindset, Asia could very well fall victim to regional rivalries that give rise to a vicious cycle of competition. Yoshihara and Holmes provide the first examination of the simultaneous rise of two naval powers and the potential impact that such an oceanic reconfiguration of power in Asia could have on long-term regional stability. Their study analyzes the maritime interests and strategies of the littoral states in Asia as they prepare for the expected reordering of nautical affairs. This long-overdue assessment revisits underlying assumptions that have prevailed among strategy-makers and provides a concrete policy framework for reducing the risk of confrontation in Asian waters.

This edited volume analyses the naval arms race in South-East Asia, and reviews the content, purposes and consequences of the naval policies and development of the main countries of the region. The rise of naval capability in the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region is increasingly recognised as a major indicator of the ‘rise of Asia’ and its increasing importance in the world’s political, economic and strategic future. Most coverage focusses solely on the navies of the 'big four' – the US, China, India and Japan; however, the region’s other navies, though much smaller, are significant too. Given the current focus on the South China Sea and the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia, naval development in South-East Asia is of particular relevance. This book first identifies the issues involved in defence acquisition in this area. It then goes on to establish some templates of naval modernisation as a means of assessing the policies of individual countries in the region, by looking at the naval policies of the big four. Finally, the general issue of naval modernisation in South-East Asia is illustrated through a more detailed examination of some of the major issues common to all countries of the area. These include the defence-industrial perspective, specific examinations of submarine and surface ship acquisition processes, and a review of the balance to be struck between naval and coastguard forces in the area. This book will be of much interest to students of naval power, maritime security, South-East Asian politics, strategic studies, and IR in general.

The rapid modernization of the Chinese Navy is a well-documented reality of the post-Cold War world. In two decades, the People's Liberation Army Navy has evolved from a backward force composed of obsolete platforms into a reasonably modern fleet whose growth is significantly shaking the naval balance in East Asia. The rationale behind China's contemporary rise at sea remains, however, difficult to grasp and few people have tried to see how the current structure of the international system has shaped Chinese choices. This book makes sense of Chinese priorities in its naval modernization in a 'robust' offensive realist framework. Drawing on Barry Posen's works on sources of military doctrine, it argues that the orientation of Beijing's choices concerning its naval forces can essentially be explained by China's position as a potential regional hegemon. Yves-Heng Lim highlights how a rising state develops naval power to fulfil its security objectives, a theoretical perspective that goes farther than the sole Chinese case.