The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

its prospects for future participation in the global
maritime regime; and associated implications for U.S.
policy. 1
UNCHARTED WATERS
For the first time in its modern history, China has
deployed naval forces operationally (as opposed to
representationally) beyond its immediate maritime
periphery to protect merchant vessels from pirates in
the Gulf of Aden. 2 Supported by a supply ship, two
PLAN vessels are escorting ships from China and
other nations; the 1,000th was escorted on October 24,
2009. 3 A week later, China’s navy began the fourth deployment.
What explains this unprecedented instance
of long-distance, sustained operations?
MOTIVATIONS
Growing Sea Lines of Communication
Security Imperatives.
China’s leadership has identified the security of
China’s seaborne imports and exports as critical to
the nation’s overall development, and hence a vital
and growing mission for the PLAN. The last two of
the four “new historic missions” (新的历史使命) with
which President Hu Jintao charged the People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) in 2004 reflect new emphases,
and the fourth is unprecedented; all but the first may
be furthered by naval development, 4 provided that
the operation is UN-led, multilateral, and targeted at
nontraditional threats. 5 Hu has also stated specifically:
“As we strengthen our ability to fight and win limited
wars under informatized conditions, we have to pay
even more attention to improving non-combat mili-
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