Kane Thomas M. (ed.) Chinese grand strategy and maritime power

New York; Abingdon: Routledge; Taylor & Francis Group, 2002. — xiv, 158 p. — eISBN 9780203815144.This book establishes beyond doubt that China is building up manttme power in all its dimensions. The main units of its sea-going Navy are expanding in number, reach and military capacity. China's fishing and merchant fleet is now huge, and its leaders are developing the shore-side infrastructure to match. Thomas Kane shows that while these developments may be relatively new in contemporary terms, they actually fit into the pattern of centuries rather more easily. It has often been remarked that the Chinese navy of the period AD 1000-1500 was almost certainly the world's largest and technically most advanced maritime force. After this period, though, China failed to keep abreast of contemporary technological advances (especially in the radical transformation brought about by the development of naval artillery). This simple fact is a salutary reminder that the exclusive association of maritime thinking with Western experience, and largely British and American experience at that, can be profoundly misleading. In his exploration of Chinese maritime thinking, Thomas Kane implicitly hammers this vital point home. Investigating a navy also often offers a window into the internal development of the country that it is designed to defend. A navy illustrates the country's social and economic strengths and weaknesses; more to the point perhaps, it provides a means of assessing the strategic and international perspectives of the country's leaders.