amoy
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China Maritime Challenge Not Going Away | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation
In the 2010 China's Ocean Development Report from the State Oceanic Administration, the Chinese referred to the littoral waters as China's "blue soil," implying that territorial claims to the surrounding waters are as fundamental as the claims to land territory. In the same report, the Chinese made their first official statement that they were building and developing a carrier fleet.
This fits with previous Chinese leader Hu Jintao's important directives to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) regarding its "new historic missions," wherein upholding China's interests in key domains, including maritime, are laid out. Being able to establish maritime dominance is ranked alongside space and cyber dominance in importance.
This growing focus on the sea also fits with Chinese doctrinal revisions, where joint operations have become a core concept in PLA thinking. Hu Jintao's "Military Thoughts on National Defense and Army Building," meanwhile, were added to the pantheon of Chinese military thinking after last year's 18th Party Congress, elevating the new missions (and expanding their meaning) to the level of long-term planning guidance.