Commentary In the first four months of 2021, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) demonstrated its continuing efforts and growing ability to dominate the high seas of the Western Pacific and, in the process, to negate the power and influence of the U.S. Navy. This change in the balance of naval power has not only destabilized the region, but threatens the safety and security of the average American. On one day alone, April 23rd, 2021—the 72nd Anniversary of the founding of the PRC’s Navy—the self-proclaimed PRC “helmsman,” Xi Jinping, oversaw the commissioning of three new People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) combatants—two warships and a submarine—at its naval base on Hainan Island. As noted by the PLA Daily, this ceremony contained three “firsts”: “the first time that China’ top commander conferred flags to three large vessels at the same time; the first time the PLA Navy commissioned three vessels at the …