Six Years at Sea... and Counting: Gulf of Aden Anti-Piracy and China's Maritime Commons Presence - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0985504501 ISBN 13: 9780985504502

Publisher: The Jamestown Foundation, 2015

Synopsis

Well over six years of Chinese anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden have directly supported People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) modernization goals and provided invaluable experience operating in distant waters. Lessons learned have spawned PLAN innovations in doctrine, operations, and international coordination. Many of the insights gleaned during deployments are applicable to security objectives closer to home; some officers enjoy promotion to important positions after returning. Anti-piracy operations have been a springboard for China to expand considerably its maritime security operations, from evacuating its citizens from Libya and Yemen to escorting Syrian chemical weapons to their destruction and participating in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. So great are the benefits to China's global maritime presence and enhanced image at home and abroad that when Gulf of Aden anti-piracy operations finally wind down, Beijing will have to develop new means to address its burgeoning overseas interests.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Andrew S. Erickson is Professor of Strategy in, and a core founding member of, the U.S. Naval War College (NWC)'s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI). He helped to establish CMSI and to stand it up officially in 2006, and has subsequently played an integral role in its development. Erickson currently serves on the Naval War College Review's Editorial Board. Since 2008, he has been an Associate in Research at Harvard University's John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. In 2013, while deployed in the Pacific as a Regional Security Education Program scholar aboard USS Nimitz, Erickson delivered twenty-five hours of presentations. Erickson has also helped escort the Commander of China's Navy and his delegation on a visit to Harvard, and worked to help establish a bilateral naval officer exchange program. Erickson received his Ph.D. and M.A. in international relations and comparative politics from Princeton University. He blogs at andrewerickson.com and chinasignpost.com. 

Austin M. Strange is a Ph.D. student in Harvard University's Department of Government. Additionally, he is currently a Research Associate at AidData of the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations at The College of William & Mary, and formerly a researcher at the China Maritime Studies Institute of the U.S. Naval War College. Previously he studied at Zhejiang University (M.S.), Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the College of William & Mary (B.A.). His primary research interests are Chinese politics and foreign policy, international relations, international development, and security studies. His publications have appeared in venues such as Foreign Affairs.com, The National Interest, and The Jamestown Foundation. In addition, he has co-authored major publications on Chinese naval anti-piracy operations and U.S.-China military cooperation. He recently helped create the largest public database of Chinese development finance projects in Africa.

From the Back Cover

Every wave has its genesis some distance from shore. In this regard, China's historic anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden since 2008 have offered governments, researchers and pundits a rare window into Beijing's nascent global maritime strategy. This study is one of the first attempts to comprehensively document and clarify the precise nature of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s maritime anti-piracy experience. It begins with an analysis of the internal drivers behind Beijing's turn to taking on piracy beginning nearly a decade ago. Through a thorough reading of official and academic Chinese- and English-language sources, we explore geostrategic, domestic and international economic, and civilian and military institutional dynamics that drove China's initial decision to contribute to anti-piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The book then inspects the nature and scope of the PLAN's anti-piracy efforts, extensively cataloguing more than a score of anti-piracy escort flotillas in terms of the types of ships used, the identities of ship commanders and political leaders, foreign ports called upon, days at sea, and various other metrics. This allows us to track the operational evolution of PLAN anti-piracy operations over time, both with regard to Chinese naval and logistical lessons learned as well as trends in China's naval diplomatic efforts attached to its anti-piracy mission.

Finally, we take stock of the broader implications of Beijing's anti-piracy operations and find reason for measured optimism with regard to China's role in future global maritime governance. While Beijing remains embroiled in testy military and political standoffs in East Asian waters, the atmosphere further afield is ripe for greater Chinese collaboration with the United States and other important maritime actors. If anything, China's naval behavior further afield reflected by its anti-piracy missions remains relatively cautious and conservative, and other stakeholders would benefit from even deeper Chinese contributions in the future.

From the Inside Flap

CONTENTS

Chapters:
Tableof Contents
I.Executive Summary
II.Key Judgments
III.Introduction
IV.Why China's Navy Has Entered and Remained in the Gulf of Aden
V.From Recognition to Response: Institutional Processes and Preparations forDeployments
VI.Six Years of Anti-Piracy and Broader PLAN Growth
VII.Gulf of Aden Operations and China's Future Far Seas Presence
VIII.Conclusion: A New Approach to Maritime Commons Security?
Aboutthe Authors

Exhibits:
Exhibit1: PLAN Gulf of Aden Escort Statistics by Task Force, 2008-15
Exhibit2: PLAN Anti-Piracy Escort Task Force Leaders with Rank, Billet andGrade
Exhibit3: PLAN Anti-Piracy Task Force Port Calls, 2009-15 (Selected)
Exhibit4: Ports for Potential PLAN Overseas Access and PLAN Visits Thereto


EXTERNAL EVALUATION

"Andrew Erickson, the indefatigable and brilliant observer of China's Navy, has scored another important success. Working with Austin Strange, Erickson has written a landmark study on China's six years of counter-piracy operations in the 'far seas' of the Gulf of Aden. Erickson assesses the benefits to China's new naval power of its experiences on the high seas, benefits that signifies the emergence of the PLA Navy as a global force to be reckoned with."

--Bernard Cole, associate dean offaculty and academic programs and professor of international history, NationalWar College, Washington, DC. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1995 after thirtyyears of service.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Jamestown Foundation
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0985504501
• ISBN 13: 9780985504502
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 50
• Editor: Erickson Andrew S., Strange Austin M.