Skip to main content
  • Sections
  • Search

Center for Strategic & International Studies

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Sign In

Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Cybersecurity and Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Governance
    • Intellectual Property
    • Intelligence, Surveillance, and Privacy
    • Military Technology
    • Space
    • Technology and Innovation
  • Defense and Security
    • Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
    • Defense Budget
    • Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation
    • Defense Strategy and Capabilities
    • Geopolitics and International Security
    • Long-Term Futures
    • Missile Defense
    • Space
    • Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation
  • Economics
    • Asian Economics
    • Global Economic Governance
    • Trade and International Business
  • Energy and Sustainability
    • Energy, Climate Change, and Environmental Impacts
    • Energy and Geopolitics
    • Energy Innovation
    • Energy Markets, Trends, and Outlooks
  • Global Health
    • Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, and Immunizations
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Health and Security
    • Infectious Disease
  • Human Rights
    • Building Sustainable and Inclusive Democracy
    • Business and Human Rights
    • Responding to Egregious Human Rights Abuses
    • Civil Society
    • Transitional Justice
    • Human Security
  • International Development
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Governance and Rule of Law
    • Humanitarian Assistance
    • Human Mobility
    • Private Sector Development
    • U.S. Development Policy

Regions

  • Africa
    • North Africa
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Americas
    • Caribbean
    • North America
    • South America
  • Arctic
  • Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia, New Zealand & Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
  • Europe
    • European Union
    • NATO
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Turkey
  • Middle East
    • The Gulf
    • Egypt and the Levant
    • North Africa
  • Russia and Eurasia
    • The South Caucasus
    • Central Asia
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Russia

Sections menu

  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
    • Blogs
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Congressional Testimony
    • Critical Questions
    • Interactive Reports
    • Journals
    • Newsletter
    • Reports
    • Transcript
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • Web Projects

Main menu

  • About Us
  • Support CSIS
    • Securing Our Future
Photo: DALE DE LA REY/AFP/Getty Images
Commentary
Share
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Printfriendly.com

The Other Side of Chinese Sea Power: 'White Area Warfare'

April 4, 2022

There are good reasons why the United States and its strategic partners show growing concern over the build-up of Chinese military power and the Chinese Navy. The rapid rate of increase in Chinese military spending – and in the size and modernization of Chinese naval, air, and missile forces – makes it clear that China is seeking to become the dominant power in the Eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific region. China is steadily improving its capability to invade Taiwan, is shifting from a role as a brown-water to a full blue-water navy, and is expanding its presence in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf.

The current war in Ukraine is a clear warning of how quickly any crisis, involving one of the world’s great powers, can escalate into war and how the ambitions of any authoritarian state can lead to a serious conflict. No one in Asia or the world can ignore the risk that the tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the wider range of Chinese military activity in the Pacific could lead to a major military clash or war. The unclassified data provided on the rapid expansion of Chinese sea power by the U.S. Navy, U.S. intelligence community, and Congressional Research Service (CRS) make these risks all too clear. So do similar analyses by several of America’s strategic partners in Europe and Asia and by a wide range of think tanks. It is also clear that China currently projects continuing increases in its sea power, missile and air forces, and nuclear forces for at least the next decade. This means that the U.S. and its partners must act to deter any Chinese use of force and be ready to engage in combat if there is no other option.

At the same time, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) demonstrates its growing global role and the one dependent factor on the civil side of sea power. So do the steady rises in the size and value of China’s trade, in its merchant marine, in global dependence on its more advanced manufactures, and in the competition for energy resources and sensitive strategic minerals.

China, however, is scarcely Russia, and Xi is scarcely Putin. China’s steady rise to the status of a military and economic superpower has so far shown that China is cautious; willing to move slowly and carefully; and has emphasized politics, economics, and indirect military pressure over conflict. Assessments like the annual U.S. official China Military Power Report also make it clear that Chinese strategy integrates civil and military operations and that China’s civil advances in trade, technology, and manufacturing capability cannot be separated from its rising military budgets and force levels.

It is something of a strategic cliché to note Sun Tzu’s famous statements, such as, “To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting,” and “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” Yet, no one who attends Chinese military conferences or talks to Chinese planners can ignore the extent to which Chinese military and civil leaders still emphasize the use of economic and political power, military demonstrations and exercises, and the indirect use of force.

There is a very real cultural difference between China and the West in addressing the need for integrated civil and military strategies, and China seems much more committed to integrating civil and military activity at every level.

This commentary entitled, The Other Side of Chinese Sea Power: “White Area Warfare,” is available for download at https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/220404_Cordesman_Naval_Power.pdf?OhBZfed3lmzmzLSQNy83TmEGt9Z1KmgJ

Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Emeritus Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He has served as a consultant on Afghanistan to the United States Department of Defense and the United States Department of State.

Commentary is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).

© 2022 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved.

Downloads
Download Commentary
Written By
Anthony H. Cordesman
Emeritus Chair in Strategy
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173
Related
Asia, China, Defense Strategy and Capabilities, Defense and Security, Emeritus Chair in Strategy, Geopolitics and International Security, Lessons of War, Military Balance, U.S. Strategic and Defense Efforts

Most Recent From Anthony H. Cordesman

Report
The Lessons of the Afghan War That No One Will Want to Learn
By Anthony H. Cordesman
June 15, 2022
Commentary
The Longer-Term Impact of the Ukraine Conflict and the Growing Importance of the Civil Side of War
By Anthony H. Cordesman
June 6, 2022
In the News
VS verliezen China echt niet uit het oog
NRC | By Bas Blokker
May 24, 2022
Commentary
Ranking the World’s Major Powers: A Graphic Comparison of the United States, Russia, China, and Other Selected Countries
By Anthony H. Cordesman
May 16, 2022
Report
U.S. Strategy: Rebalancing Global Energy between Europe, Russia, and Asia and U.S. Security Policy in the Middle East and the Gulf
By Anthony H. Cordesman
May 12, 2022
Commentary
The Ukraine War and U.S. National Strategy: The Need for a Credible Global Force Posture and Real Plans, Programs, and Budgets
By Anthony H. Cordesman
May 5, 2022
In the News
Many believe Biden isn’t tough enough on Russia says AP-NORC poll
PBS | Nomaan Merchant, Hannah Fingerhut
April 21, 2022
In the News
Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia: AP-NORC poll
Associated Press | Nomaan Merchant, Hannah Fingerhut
April 21, 2022
View all content by this expert
Footer menu
  • Topics
  • Regions
  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
  • Web Projects
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • About Us
  • Support Us
Contact CSIS
Email CSIS
Tel: 202.887.0200
Fax: 202.775.3199
Visit CSIS Headquarters
1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173

Daily Updates

Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs.

Subscribe to CSIS Newsletters

Follow CSIS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

All content © 2022. All rights reserved.

Legal menu
  • Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • Reprint Permissions