Volume 1, Number 7 From Coastal Defense to the Far-Seas: China’s Naval Strategic Transformation

From Coastal Defense to the Far-Seas: China’s Naval Strategic Transformation is a curated collection of 11 seminal articles originally published in People’s Republic of China (PRC) journals, volumes, and newspapers. Translated by the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) over the last thirteen years, these works provide a roadmap of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) evolution from a "coastal defense – near coastal defense" (yan’an fangyu – jin’an haifang) force to a far-seas navy. Organized thematically, the volume traces China's naval transformation from the historical lessons and strategic thought of earlier generations of leaders, through the development and formal adoption of a far-seas strategy, and concludes with a section devoted to the industrial and technological foundations required to build and sustain a blue-water fleet.