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-19th 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 1894–1895; during the 1920s and 1930s a navy again sunk or lost to Japan in the war of 1937–1945; in the 1950s a navy built with Soviet help which stagnated following the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s; and finally 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 defense 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. |A History of the Modern Chinese Navy 1840–2020 | Asian Studies
