China\'s Quest. The History of the Foreign Relations of the People\'s Republic of China - John Garver

Reassuring and Unnerving India } 753

Late in 2008, China initiated a major increase in its naval presence and capa-
bilities in the Indian Ocean when it decided to send PLA-N warships to par-
ticipate in international antipiracy efforts that had been underway for several
years in the Gulf of Aden. Economic considerations partially motivated this
move. Insurance costs were rising for unescorted Chinese vessels and delivery
schedules were being disrupted putting Chinese businesses at a competitive dis-
advantage.^37 Whether or not China’s leaders considered the strategic impact of
this decision, those impacts were substantial. PLA-N warships established a per-
manent and robust presence in the Indian Ocean. PLA-N warships had visited
Indian Ocean ports a dozen or so times since the first visit in 1985, but those visits
had been transitory. Beginning in 2009, the PLA-N presence was enduring, with
one PLA-N task force replacing another after serving on station for four months.
PLA-N warships began frequent calls at ports all around the Indian Ocean littoral,
as illustrated by Figure 27-1. PLA-N commanders thus gained useful knowledge
of where they could get various supplies, replacement personnel, maintenance,
or repairs. PLA-N warships also began investigating such factors as currents,
temperature and salinity gradients, and sea floor terrain, knowledge essential
for effective operations, especially submarine and antisubmarine operations.

Sydney

Ho Chi Minh City

Port Kelang Singapore

Colombo

Muscat (17)

Salalah

Victoria

Dar es Salaam

AlgiersMaTaltaranto

Jeddah

Haifa

Alexandria

Crete

Piraeus

Varna

Istanbul

ShuwMaaikhnama

Abu DohaDhabi

Constantsa Sevastopol

Djibouti (11) Aden (13)

Toulon

Durban

Maputo

Karachi

Cochin

Sattahip

Rangoon

Manila

INDIAN

OCEAN

PACIFIC

OCEAN

1st exercise by PLAN warships

in waters south of Indonesia,

February 2014

1 to 4 visits by PLAN ships

More than 4 visits by PLAN ships

(actual number of visits in parentheses)

F IGU R E 27-1 Selected Indian Ocean Port Calls by PLA-N Antipiracy ships, Feb. 2009–Apr. 2013
Source: Andrew S. Erickson, Austin M. Strange, No Substitute for Experience: Chinese Antipiracy Operations in
the Gulf of Aden, (China Maritime Studies Institute monograph no. 10, U.S. Naval War College, November 2013); Trefor Moss,
“Beijing’s Power Play Exposes Anxieties,” Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2014, A10.