China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591142423 ISBN 13: 9781591142423

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 2009

Synopsis

In modern history, China has been primarily a land power, dominating smaller states along its massive continental flanks. But China's turn toward the sea is now very much a reality, as evident in its stunning rise in global shipbuilding markets, its vast and expanding merchant marine, the wide offshore reach of its energy and minerals exploration companies, its growing fishing fleet, and indeed its increasingly modern navy. Yet, for all these achievements, there is still profound skepticism regarding China's potential as a genuine maritime power. Beijing must still import the most vital subcomponents for its shipyards, maritime governance remains severely bureaucratically challenged, and the navy evinces, at least as of yet, little enthusiasm for significant blue water power projection capabilities.
 
This volume provides a truly comprehensive assessment of prospects for China's maritime development by situating these important geostrategic phenomena within a larger world historical context. Too many works on China view the nation in isolation. To avoid this problem, the authors, all authorities on their respective historical eras, examine cases of attempted maritime transformation through the ages, from the Persian Empire to the Soviet Union, and determine the reasons for success or failure. Their work updates other books written on the subject that have been overtaken by China's rapid strategic and technological change. Readers will especially appreciate the book's detailed maps and forward-looking analytical framework for understanding the future of Asian maritime power.
 
China is hardly the only land power in history to attempt transformation by fostering sea power. Many continental powers have elected or been impelled to transform themselves into significant maritime powers in order to safeguard their strategic position or advance their interests. Of course, China's history and culture are to some extent exceptional, but building intellectual fences actually hinders the effort to understand China's current development trajectory. Without underestimating the enduring pull of China's past as it relates to threats to the country's internal stability and its landward borders, this comparative study provides reason to believe that China has turned the corner on a genuine maritime transformation. If that proves indeed to be the case, it would be a remarkable if not singular event in the history of the last two millennia. This is the third book in the series "Studies in Chinese Maritime Development" published jointly by the China Maritime Studies Institute and the Naval Institute Press.

About this title

From the Author

ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS:
"the breadth and quality of the various contributions mean that it has relevance to a much more extensive readership than the dedicated follower of Chinese naval strategy. ... A particularly interesting chapter contributed by Messrs Erickson and Goldstein analyses the findings of the Chinese government's own recent study entitled The Rise of Great Powers. ... many strands are drawn together in Carnes Lord's concluding chapter. This provides both a clear summing up of the many hurdles land-based powers face when they embark on a maritime transformation, and a well-reasoned assessment of the point China has reached in its own voyage to the sea."
-Conrad Waters, author, Seaforth World Naval Review 2012; in "Naval Books of the Year," John Jordan and Stephen Dent, eds., Warship 2011 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, June 2011), 184-85.
"China Goes to Sea is to be welcomed for all the right scholarly reasons and its contributors are to be congratulated for shedding further light on the fascinating yet manifestly unfinished story of China's maritime transformation."
-Malcolm H. Murfett, National University of Singapore, International Journal of Maritime History 22.1 (June 2010): 384-86.
"The excellent idea behind this collection is the historical comparison of how other powers in other times have made the transition from land to sea power. ... In addition to its portraits and perceptions of Chinese naval expansion, the book has fine introductions to more obscure topics, such as the Ottomans. ...Especially for policy makers. Summing up: Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries."
-R. Higham, emeritus, Kansas State University, Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries 47.9 (May 2010).
"...important not only for those working in naval studies and for sinologists, but also for scholars concerned with the idea of strategic culture and its application."
-Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, Naval War College Review 63.3 (Summer 2010): 156-57.
"This is a vital book that ought to be read by all the world's political leaders and their advisors, senior military personnel and pro-active business people. Not only does it, as it claims, put China's maritime transformation into historical perspective, it puts almost all maritime commerce into historical perspective. In analysing China's current situation, it provides a brilliant overview of global commercial history."
-Ships and Shipping (March 2010): 37.
"...The last two parts of the book look just at China. They consist of three particularly stimulating chapters which look at the rise and fall of Chinese seapower in the past and four which explore possible trajectories into the future. What emerges is a picture of the Chinese pragmatically transforming themselves (back?) into a sea-faring nation ...an excellent book which sparks ideas about a lot more than 'just' the maritime transformation of China."
-Anonymous reviewer, 10 February 2010.
"The third book in the Studies in Chinese Maritime Development series, this volume includes maps and essays on the nation's seagoing endeavors from ancient times to the present."
-Katherine Duke, "Short Takes," Amherst Magazine (Winter 2010).
"Placing China's efforts to expand its maritime power in historical context, the authors contend that the country may finally be on the verge of transforming itself from a strictly continental to a maritime power."
-Survival 52.1 (February-March 2010): 229.
"compares historical examples dating from the Persian Empire's maritime transformation in 550-490 BC to China's ongoing metamorphosis, expertly addressing the factors influencing China's turn to the sea. ... This volume includes excellent work... highlighting a number of ways in which China appears to be deviating from the path historical precedence would seem to dictate. ...evidence that China's path may not replicate historical examples is offered by Erickson and Goldstein, who provide an excellent overview of how Beijing has studied the rise of great powers in hopes of emulating successes and avoiding pitfalls. Carnes Lord reviews the factors that led to failed maritime transformations and finds no compelling reason that China's turn to the sea will fail. Instead, he finds a country that has accurately identified its geostrategic vulnerability to seaward attack and has adjusted its maritime policies to these changing security requirements. Lord's only question is the pace and degree of China's maritime transformation."
-Scott W. Bray (the U.S. Navy's Senior Intelligence Officer for China), "Turning to the Sea... This Time to Stay," Book Review Essay, Asia Policy 9 (January 2010): 167-72.
"should be required reading for anyone interested in either China or, more broadly, maritime strategy. ... Whether China is able to achieve what few nations in the past have done and transform itself from a continentalist past to a maritime future is an issue that will continue to be addressed for years to come. ... This book is an extremely valuable contribution to that debate."
-Capt. Gordon Andrew, RAN, Australian Defence Force Journal (Issue No. 180, 2009): 85-86.
"Comprising a collection of essays from 17 clear headed and far sighted scholars it succinctly analyses present day China and its position in the maritime world, indeed in the whole world. This is one of those rare books that delivers vastly more than it promises. A fine piece of literary jewellery full of smaller gems."
-Baird Maritime, 10 August 2009.
"...an impressive study with a sophisticated and comparative approach, a worthy addition to any library. It is an informative read that will please history-buffs and political-wonks alike."
-Xinhui, China Defense Blog, 4 August 2009.

From the Inside Flap

"...a major contribution to the development of a comparative and historical perspective on contemporary China's growing maritime ambitions. ...essential reading for scholars and policy makers concerned about Chinese defense policy and developments in Chinese maritime policy."
-Robert S. Ross, Professor of Political Science, Boston College
"Among its many other merits, it provides a valuable window into what the Chinese themselves are thinking about strategic maritime matters."
-John Curtis Perry, The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1591142423
• ISBN 13: 9781591142423
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 526
• Editor: Erickson Andrew S., Goldstein Lyle J., Lord Carnes