A history of the modern Chinese Navy, 1840-2020

Preface : Four Periods of modern Chinese naval development -- Introduction : China's modern navy in historical perspective : the importance of coastal defense strategies -- The origins of the "modern" navy under the Qing dynasty -- The first opium war and Chinese naval modernization -- The Chinese navy in the second opium war, in Okinawa, and in Annam -- China's navy and the sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 -- The Chinese navy's incomplete modernization and westernization -- The "new army" reforms and the Chinese navy's impact of the Xinhai revolution -- The nationalist navy from 1922 through 1938 -- The post-world war II nationalist navy through the Chinese civil war -- Founding the PRC and the early history of the PLAN -- The Chongqing mutiny and the creation of the PLAN -- PLAN's coastal defense and the nationalist navy's use of the off-shore Islands to blockade China -- The sino-Soviet alliance and the growth of the PLAN -- The nationalist navy and China's PLAN as an emerging regional navy -- Sino-Soviet conflict and the PRC decision to open relations with the United States -- Modernization, westernization, and geographic responsibilities of the PLAN -- China's historical and regional constraints and the future of the PLAN -- Conclusions.

"This book provides a comprehensive history of the modern Chinese navy from 1840 to the present. Beginning with a survey of naval developments in earlier imperial times, the book goes on to show how China has since the mid-nineteenth century four times built or rebuilt its navy: after the Opium Wars, a navy which was sunk or captured by the Japanese in the war of 1894-5; during the 1920s and 1930s, a navy again sunk or lost to Japan, in the war of 1937-45; in the 1950s, a navy built with Soviet help, which stagnated following the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s; and fourthly the present navy which absorbed its predecessor, but with the most modern sections dating from the 1990s - a navy which continues to grow and prosper. The book also shows how the underlying strategic imperative for the Chinese navy has been the defence of China's coasts and major rivers; how naval mutiny was a key factor in the overthrow of the Qing and the Nationalist regimes; and how successive Chinese governments, aware of the potent threat of naval mutiny, have restricted the growth, independence, and capabilities of the navy. Overall, the book provides-at a time when many people in the West view China and its navy as a threat-a rich, detailed, and realistic assessment of the true nature of the Chinese navy and the contemporary factors that affect its development"--