TAIPEI - China’s increasing naval power, the country having surpassed the United States as the world’s largest maritime force, is giving Beijing crucial sway in negotiations with Asian governments that dispute its claims at sea, experts say.
The U.S. Defense Department, in its September annual report to Congress on military and security developments involving China, said China’s navy ranks as the world’s biggest in numerical terms. The report calls the People’s Liberation Army Navy an “increasingly modern and flexible force” armed with “modern multi-role combatants.”
China’s navy has avoided war, a potential battlefield disadvantage, but its size means Chinese leaders can get their way in talks with other Asian countries, analysts in the Asia Pacific region say.
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