ABSTRACT
China’s construction of sea power is not simply a political rhetoric. The People’s Republic of China has clearly been more assertive and proactive in various maritime security issues. Indeed, some of the aforementioned maritime issues have been ongoing since the 1980s or 1990s. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book revisits the evolution of maritime security and sea power in international relations and strategic studies and how it can be studied as a strategy. It evaluates the development of China’s maritime security strategy starting from the era of Deng Xiaoping. The chapter suggests that maritime security gradually became a concern for China during Jiang Zemin’s administration due to three incidents: the Yinhe incident, the Taiwan missile crisis, and the Mischief Reef dispute. It examines the recent development of Xi Jinping’s maritime security strategy.
