ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the implications of China's having become a maritime power. It describes Chinese perceptions of maritime threats and the strategic solutions China fashioned to deal with those threats. The book aims to identify domestic political influences upon naval development and investigate the reasons for the navy's privileged status in the Chinese political system. It also describes China's maritime foreign relations, including naval foreign assistance programs, maritime territorial disputes, and the evolution of China's position on the Law of the Sea. A large merchant marine would have been extraneous, as China's economic reconstruction and development after the revolution focused on agricultural and industrial growth for domestic consumption. Ground and air defense of the world's longest land border became China's chief strategic concern as the Soviet Union changed from friend to enemy.
